SEBI withdraws ‘external elements’ statement, says employees reaffirm issues are ‘strictly internal’

Nearly two weeks after blaming ‘external elements’ for employee unrest, SEBI today withdrew its controversial press statement that had added to the unrest in its rank and file. In the statement earlier, SEBI had suggested that its employees were “misguided by external elements to target credibility of SEBI and its leadership”.

This was in response to a SEBI employees' letter that talked about the "toxic work culture" and had sought the resignation of Sebi chief Madhabi Puri Buch. 

On Monday, the regulator said its employees have strongly condemned the recent unauthorised release of internal communication and have confirmed that all concerns would be addressed amicably through established internal channels. 

The letter, written by a section of SEBI employees to the Finance Ministry on August 6, levelled several charges against the SEBI hierarchy. Without naming SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch, the letter said the SEBI office had become a “furnace of unrealistic KRA point achievement.” 

On Monday, SEBI noted that it addresses the employee-related matters through appropriate internal mechanisms. 

“Following constructive discussions with representatives of all grades of officers, SEBI and its employees have reaffirmed that such issues are strictly internal and will be managed in accordance with the organisation’s high standards of governance and within a time-bound framework,” SEBI said.

“Accordingly, the Press Release no. 20/2024 dated September 04, 2024, stands withdrawn,” it said. 

SEBI on September 4 said the junior officers were receiving messages from external elements outside the group, effectively instigating them to go to media, ministry and to the board, to serve their own purpose. SEBI had suggested that the August 6 letter was not sent by the SEBI employee associations to the government  and was an anonymous email. The September 4 statement has now been withdrawn.