Karan Thapar 
New Delhi: In an interview where she raises serious and damaging concerns about the fact that Madhabi Puri Buch, both as a whole-time member and chairperson of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), retained ICICI Bank employee stock options (ESOPs), the managing editor of Moneylife has said that as a result, the SEBI chairperson put herself in a position that is “improper and wrong”.
Sucheta Dalal said that on the basis of “the preponderance of probability” – criteria that SEBI itself uses – it’s likely that at Buch would have both had access to unpublished price sensitive information and also would have taken decisions that affect ICICI, directly or indirectly, both of which in turn would have impacted the shares she had.
Dalal says this is “a big concern”.
In a 30-minute interview to Karan Thapar for The Wire, Dalal also asked how is it that SEBI, “an institution with over three decades of experience”, does not have “robust mechanisms” amounting to detailed and stringent rules that apply to the investments, salary and ESOPs of people who work in and, particularly, head a regulatory organisation.
She said the finger of responsibility and blame for this goes all the way up to the appointments committee which chooses the chairperson of SEBI. In this instance, the appointments committee comprises the prime minister and the home minister.
Talking about the “toxic work culture” at SEBI, which has provoked protests by hundreds of its employees, Dalal asked how come SEBI’s board of directors is silent and has not felt the need to speak about and address this issue. Its silence is clearly a sign that it’s failing to do its job.
In the interview, Dalal also spoke about questions raised by Pawan Khera of the Congress regarding the retiral benefits – their amount and frequency – drawn by Buch from ICICI Bank. She also spoke about the story published in Mint alleging that between 2011 and 2013, Buch worked for Greater Pacific Capital whilst also working for ICICI Bank.