Madhabi Puri Buch's Journey: SEBI's 'Reformist' At The Heart Of Ongoing Controversies

Buch made headlines in 2022 when she was appointed as the Chairperson of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), becoming the first woman to assume leadership of the markets regulator

Lately, Buch has been at the centre of various allegations questioning her ethical and legal standing as the head of the capital markets regulator.

Source : PTI

Adding on to the rising pile of allegations, ZEEL founder, Subhash Chandra, on Monday, claimed that Madhabi Puri Buch acted with bias and exhibited unethical behaviour. The entreprenuer accused the SEBI chair of being part of a group that aimed to hurt his business interests.

Lately, Buch has been at the centre of various allegations questioning her ethical and legal standing as the head of the capital markets regulator. After an explosive report from US-based short seller, Hindenburg Research, last month, now the Congress party has also thrown serious allegations against the SEBI chief. Let's take a look at Buch's journey that led her to assume the leadership of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

Beginnings

A seasoned professional in the financial world, Buch began her career in 1989 with ICICI Bank. She worked with the bank for 12 years in several positions across departments, including corporate finance, loans, branding, and treasury.

Born in 1966, her childhood and school years were spent in Mumbai. She later went on to secure an MBA degree from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) - Ahmedabad.

Time Spent With ICICI

Her LinkedIn profile shows that she headed the marketing and sales department in the bank from 1997 to 2002 and moved on to become head of product development from 2002 to 2003. She also took charge as the head of operations from 2004 to 2006. She then moved on to ICICI Securities and acted as the Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for the entity from February 2009 to May 2011. She also served on the board of ICICI Bank in the capacity of an executive director.

Professional Journey

In 2011, Buch joined the Greater Pacific Capital LLP in Singapore and also worked as the non-executive director for Idea Cellular from 2011-17. She also served on the boards of Max Healthcare, Zansar Technologies, and Innoven Capital as a non-executive director, and acted as an independent director for the Indian School of Development Management (ISDM).

Stint With SEBI

Buch made headlines in 2022 when she was appointed as the Chairperson of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), becoming the first woman to assume leadership of the markets regulator.

She assumed charge of SEBI on March 1, 2022. However, her journey with the regulator began much earlier when she served as a whole-time member of the body between April 2017 and October 2021.

As part of her stint with SEBI, Buch became famous for bringing in reforms aimed at changing the domestic financial markets and enforcing stricter frameworks on regulation and surveillance.

Latest Allegations

In September, fresh allegations surfaced against Buch from the Congress party, wherein, the party claimed that the SEBI chief was receiving salary and ESOP from ICICI Bank during 2017-2024. 

The lender responded that the amount paid to Buch was accrued from her tenure with ICICI and included her retirement benefit. The Congress, in return, sought clarity regarding compensation and stock options of Buch and also raised questions on the retiral benefit. The party said that the funds were non-uniform in frequency and amount and exceeded Buch’s salary as an employee with the ICICI Bank. 

Hindenburg's Claims

In August, Hindenburg Research came into the limelight once again and alleged that SEBI chair, Madhabi Buch and her husband, Dhaval Buch, owned stakes in the money siphoning scandal done by the Adani Group.

The report was released on August 10, 2024, and claimed that Buch and her husband held shares in the Mauritius and Bermuda funds named in the alleged funds siphoning scandal by the Adani Group. 

The report also claimed that the SEBI chief didn’t disclose her actual salary and earned way more via the consultancy firm, in which she held a majority stake, in comparison to her official salary from the SEBI.

These allegations were staunchly denied by the couple. In a detailed response, Buch and her husband said that the allegations were baseless and said that they have provided all the needed disclosures to SEBI.