Who is Madhabi Puri Buch, the first female head of SEBI?

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has got its first woman chairman with the government approving the appointment of Madhabi Puri Buch to replace Ajay Tyagi, whose term is ending today, February 28.

“The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Smt. Madhabi Puri Buch, Former Whole Time Member, SEBI, to the post of Chairman, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), initially for a period of three years from the date of assumption of charge of the post, or until further orders, whichever is earlier,” stated a notification issued by the government on Monday.

Incidentally, this would also be the first time since 2002 when the government named a non-IAS person to head SEBI. In April 2002, G N Bajpai, the former chairman of LIC, was named SEBI chairman. His term ended in February 2005.

Since then, all four who occupied the corner office at SEBI – M Damodaran, C B Bhave, U K Sinha and Ajay Tyagi – were from the Indian Administrative Services (IAS) cadre.

Buch also has to her credit of being the only female Whole Time Member of SEBI till date.

While at SEBI, she handled important portfolios including Market Regulation Department, Market Intermediaries Regulation & Supervision Department, Integrated Surveillance Department, Department of Economic & Policy Analysis, Office of Investor Assistance & Education, National Institute of Securities Markets and Information Technology Department.

Appointed initially for a period of three years, Buch is an alumnus of IIM Ahmedabad and St. Stephen's College.

Prior to joining SEBI as a Whole Time Member, Buch had worked in the corporate world with organisations like ICICI Bank, Greater Pacific Capital and Shanghai-based New Development Bank. She had also served as a non-executive director on the boards of various companies.