How top bureaucrat GV Ramakrishna turned bullfighter to clean up India's stock market

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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Till the 1980s, the Bombay Stock Exchange (now BSE) resembled the Wild West, with a cabal of brokers who brooked no resistance from regulators, running the place as they pleased. So when a former bureaucrat with no experience in capital markets was appointed to head the toothless Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), still lacking statutory powers, there seemed little reason to fear anything would spoil their party.

However, they underestimated the resoluteness and brilliance of GV Ramakrishna (GVR), the man appointed as Sebi chief, and his ability to quickly grasp the rules of the business. Having spent 50 years in the Indian Administrative Services (IAS), he had thrived in far more hostile conditions, including quelling mobs. Over the years, he crossed swords with powerful politicians and came out unscathed, thanks to his deep understanding of bureaucratic and regulatory mechanisms.

This background proved invaluable in his role of transforming India's securities market. Read this | Vinod Khosla: Silicon Valley’s persistent provocateur The markets were a far cry from the gold medallist in M.Sc. from Mysore University who had started his career as a biochemist with the Rockefeller Foundation, researching haematology at Bowring Hospital in Bangalore.

A career in the civil services followed, including stints as Chief Secretary of Andhra Pradesh in the early 1980s and various positions at the Centre. A bureaucratic career didn’t mean he lacked business acumen. In the course of his career, he attended Harvard University for his Master in Public Administration (MPA).