The Centre has appointed Madhabi Puri Buch as the first woman chairperson of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on February 28. She was previously the head of ICICI Securities. In between 2017 to 2021, she also served in SEBI as an entire Time Member. Now, she is going to replace Ajay Tyagi as the chairperson of SEBI.

Ajay Tyagi is a 1984 batch IAS officer from the Himachal Pradesh cadre. He was appointed as SEBI Chairperson for 3 years, on March 1, 2017. He was given a six-month extension. Later, his tenure was extended by 18 months in august 2020.

 

The finance ministry had invited applications from eligible candidates for the post of SEBI Chairperson in October 2021. The deadline to submit the shape was December 6, 2021.

As per the procedure for appointment of regulators, the candidates are shortlisted by the Financial Sector Regulatory Appointments Search Committee (FSRASC), which is headed by a Cabinet secretary. Shortlisted candidates are interviewed by a panel, consisting of the Economic Affairs Secretary and three external members depending upon the domain of knowledge and experiences they posse.

 

A high-level panel is allowed to recommend names apart from those applying for the advertised post. On the idea of interactions, FSRASC recommends the name to the appointments committee of Cabinet headed by the Prime Minister.

FSRASC was founded as a ‘standing committee’, on the premise of the advice of the economic sector legislative reforms commission.

The committee was founded to “recommend suitable persons for Chairperson, whole-time members, and part-time members of the financial sector regulators.” It is aimed at adopting an identical selection process for all financial sector regulators.

The members of FSRASC are headed by a Cabinet secretary. Other members include the additional principal secretary to the Prime Minister, secretary of the department of economic affairs or department of monetary services, chairperson of the concerned regulatory agency and Three outside experts.