Madan Gopal Damani, former president of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), passed away on Wednesday night following a cardiac arrest. Damani, 64, is survived by his wife, son and a daughter.
The former BSE chief, who had celebrated his birthday last Sunday at Lonavala, near Mumbai, was later rushed to Mumbai's Hinduja Hospital following chest pains.
Damani was the BSE president for three consecutive years -1995-96, 1996-97 and 1997-98. Under his regime, the exchange saw massive computerisation and expansion of its terminals across the country. The BSE's turnover increased from around Rs 200 crore in March 1996 to over Rs 4,000 crore in March 2000.
Damani had taken a strong stand against market regulator, the Securities Exchange Board of India (Sebi), on various issues relating to the brokers and capital market.
In fact, he had successfully challenged the vindictive attitude of former Sebi chairman G V Ramakrishnan.
He was also forefront in a nine-year battle with the Sebi on the issue of turnover -based registration fees.
Though the Supreme Court ruling went in favour of the Sebi, brokers definitely got a say on the basis of computation of registration fees.
Damani was also responsible for the setting up of Central Depository Services (CDSL), the second depository in the country.
However, he had to step down as the chairman of CDSL on June 16, agreeing in principle with the Sebi's contention that the term of directors should not exceed three years.
At the time of handing over his resignation, Damani said that he was not aware of the three-year stipulation and added that there was no need for the regulator to issue a showcause notice instead an informal communication would have been enough for him to put in his papers.
