The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) board is scheduled to convene on Monday for a meeting, the first since Hindenburg Research levelled allegations on Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch and employee complaints.
The SEBI board has four whole-time members and three part-time members.
The US short-seller had alleged that Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband Dhaval Buch had investments in offshore funds that were controlled by Vinod Adani, brother of Gautam Adani, who helms the Adani Group. The short seller had earlier accused the Adani Group of manipulating funds and inflating stock prices of its listed companies in India. The regulator, headed by Buch, had probed the allegations against the conglomerate and given it a clean chit.
After Hindenburg, the Congress party accused Buch of trading in listed securitites and selling employee stock options from her previous employer ICICI Bank when she was serving at SEBI. It also alleged that Mahindra and Mahindra, ICICI, Dr Reddy’s, Pidilite, Sembcorp and Visu Leasing and Finance availed consultancy services from Agora Advisory when Madhabi Puri Buch was serving as a whole-time director of SEBI.
Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband have denied all the allegations. They said they have complied with all the disclosures of SEBI, and that when she had joined the regulator as a whole-time member in 2017, she had disclosed the details of shareholding in Agora Advisory and Agora Partners.
Meanwhile, last month around 500 employees of SEBI wrote to the finance ministry saying there was immense pressure at the regulator, resulting in a “stressful and toxic work environment”. The SEBI said that the claims of unprofessional work culture were misplaced, while alleging that some “outside elements” instigated the employees to believe that they should not be required to have high standards of performance and accountability.
It later on withdrew its comments, adding that the issues would be addressed “amicably and internally”.