Govt begins search for new Sebi Chairman to succeed UK Sinha

The government has begun the search for a new Chairman of the capital markets regulator Sebi to succeed the incumbent UK Sinha, whose term is scheduled to come to an end on February 17, 2016.

Inviting applications, the Finance Ministry said in a notification that the Chairman would be appointed for a five-year period or up to the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier. Besides, he would be eligible for re-appointment.

The applications have been invited by October 7, 2015.

"The appointment shall be made by the central government on recommendation of a search-cum-selection committee... It may, however, be noted that the search-cum-selection committee is free to identify and recommend any other person also, on the basis of merits, who has not applied for the post," the Ministry said.

The Chairman would have an option to receive pay "as admissible to a Secretary to the Government of India, or a consolidated salary of Rs 4.5 lakh per month". The salary remains unchanged from what is being paid currently.

Sinha, a 1976 batch IAS officer of Bihar cadre, assumed office as the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) Chairman on February 18, 2011 when the previous UPA government was in the power.

While Sinha was initially appointed with a three-year term, he was later given a two-year extension. As per his age, Sinha is eligible for a one-year extension.

It could not be ascertained whether Sinha was offered an extension or not.

In addition to the post of Chairman, the government is empowered to appoint five members on the board of this key regulatory body, which regulates stock exchanges, various kinds of market entities including brokers, mutual funds, FIIs, rating agencies and investment bankers, as also thousands of listed companies.

Of these five members, at least three must be whole-time members. Currently, there are three whole-time members on the Sebi board, while the government last month appointed Arun Sathe, who has been an RSS full-timer in the past and who had unsuccessfully fought Lok Sabha elections as a BJP candidate in 1989, as a 'Part-Time Member'.

Going by the current board composition, the government can appoint one more member.

Among the three whole-time members, the current tenure of Prashant Saran and S Raman will end in 2017 while that of Rajeev Kumar Agarwal will come to an end in 2016.  The Finance Ministry said the applications need to be accompanied by ACR/APAR (Annual Confidential Report/Annual Performance Appraisal Report) of the last five years, Vigilance Clearance, No Penalty and Integrity Certificate through 'proper channel' in case of serving government officers and employees of PSUs, academic and research institutions.

Listing the eligibility criteria, it said the applicants should be "person of ability, integrity and standing who have shown capacity in dealing with problems pertaining to securities markets or have special knowledge or experience of law, finance, economics, accountancy, administration or in any other discipline, which in the opinion of the Central Government shall be useful to the Board".

"Keeping in view the role and importance of Sebi as a regulator, it is desirable that persons with high integrity, eminence and reputation preferably with more than 25 years of professional experience and in the age group of 50-60 years may apply."

Before joining Sebi, the current Chairman Sinha was heading UTI Mutual Fund. Prior to that, he had served in Finance Ministry among other positions as an IAS officer.

During his tenure, Sebi has taken a number of steps to check manipulation and ensure safeguards of the investors and overall marketplace.

However, the most keenly watched developments during Sinha's tenure has been grant of greater powers to Sebi and the action taken by the regulator against hundreds of ponzi schemes and lately against more than 1,000 individuals and companies suspected of tax evasion and laundering of black money through the stock exchange platform.