Lock, Stock & Buch: A miss here, a hit there
Madhabi Puri Buch's three-year tumultuous stint as the tenth chairperson of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) will end on Friday. According to Sebi watchers, her efforts to make equity investing safer for investors were partly eclipsed by controversies around conflicts of interest and leadership style, which critics termed temperamental. A look at hits, misses, and controversies during her tenure at the regulator's helm:
HITS
Curbs On Derivatives Trading
With Sebi studies showing households incurring annual losses of about ₹60,000 crore in derivatives trading, Buch has been hawkish about growing retail activity in futures and options. Despite widespread opposition to Sebi's proposed restrictions, the regulator brought in the curbs. The action paid off as recent stock exchange data shows F&O volumes have declined by over 50%.
Clean-Up of Brokers
«We will never allow another Karvy in our market. Period. If another Karvy-like instance happens, it will be over our dead bodies,» Buch told reporters on March 29, 2023. Buch was a whole-time member at Sebi when the Karvy fiasco broke out. After she became the chairperson, Sebi tightened rules by minimising stockbrokers' access to client funds and securities. It directed stock exchanges to charge uniform fees to all members irrespective of their trading volumes to improve transparency.
Stock Trading
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