Race for next Sebi chief hots up again as Tyagi tenure ends next month

M S Sahoo, Madhabi Puri Buch top contenders to replace incumbent; Injeti Srinivas also said to be in race

The race to head the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is hotting up once again as Chairman Ajay Tyagi’s tenure ends next month. 

The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India’s (IBBI’s) chief Madhusudan Sahoo and Sebi Whole-time Member (WTM) Madhabi Puri Buch are believed to be the top contenders to succeed Tyagi.

Apart from them, former corporate affairs secretary Injeti Srinivas and a few other officials of the finance and corporate affairs ministries are also learnt to be in the race, said people familiar with the developments. Text messages sent to Sahoo and Buch remained unanswered. 

Late on Monday evening, through a notification, the department of personnel and training (DoPT) appointed Srinivas as chairman of the International Financial Services Centre Authority (IFSCA) for the Gandhinagar-based financial special economic zone or Gujarat International Finance Tech (GIFT) City.

The government had narrowed down on some of these names in February, before Tyagi’s three-year tenure was set to end on February 28. However, he was granted a six-month extension to ensure continuity at Sebi amidst the Covid-19 crisis. 

Before taking over as chairperson of the IBBI in September 2016, Sahoo served as a member at the Competition Commission of India (CCI). He has a good capital market track record, having served as WTM at Sebi in the past.  He was head of the panel that issued framework for foreign listings.

Buch will be the first woman to head Sebi if she is selected. She was also the first woman WTM at the market regulator, which she joined in March 2017. 

The notification will be issued by the month end, said a person in the know.

Meanwhile, Buch started her career at ICICI Bank and went on to become managing director and chief executive of ICICI Securities in February 2009. In 2011, she joined Greater Pacific Capital in Singapore. Before her stint at Sebi, she worked at the New Development Bank in Shanghai.

Srinivas, one of the others in the fray, had played a crucial role in shaping the government’s bankruptcy reforms.