Over the past month, Madhabi Puri Buch, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), has been the subject of multiple complaints, primarily centered around conflicts of interest, from at least four separate sources. She has not publicly reacted to some and refuted the majority of them.
India’s equity markets, which rank among the finest in the world this year, are currently experiencing a bull run.
In addition to millions of new mom-and-pop investors opening electronic accounts to participate in the mutual fund and initial public offering (IPO) frenzy, foreign investors have contributed over $6 billion (£4.5 billion).
Ms. Buch’s troubles began in August when US-based short-seller Hindenburg Research accused her and her spouse of owning shares in an offshore fund used by the Adani Group. The accusation implied that this was the reason Sebi was taking so long to launch an investigation into Adani for claims of accounting fraud and market manipulation.
Numerous other accusations have surfaced since then.
The main opposition Congress party has accused Ms. Buch of taking rental money from a company she was investigating. Additionally, it has been claimed that she held an “office of profit” at ICICI Bank, one of the biggest private lenders in India, and that even when her employment with them ended, she continued to profit handsomely via Employee Stock Ownership Plans (Esops).
