The Lunch with BS with former Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) Chairman C B Bhave (“I know the compulsions of the political bosses”, April 5) captured his thoughts neatly. However, I think his good work on mutual fund reform was neglected in the article. Bhave was the first Sebi chairman to take strict action against a large group involved in market irregularities. He also cracked the whip on traders for front-running in large mutual fund houses. His view on Unit Linked Insurance Plans (Ulip) was also correct even though the Supreme Court shot it down. Ulips were wrongly sold to various pensioners who rarely got their money back — in some Ulips, pensioners lost 50 per cent of the first premium. Bhave also supported the Bimal Jalan Committee report. His view of stock exchanges being excessive profit-making institutions was right because these are market infrastructure institutions and have a fiduciary duty to the investing community and not to shareholders of the exchange.
Prasad Dahapute, on email
