Govt invites applications for post of new SEBI chief

The Government of India has invited applications to fill the post of chairperson of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), Mumbai, by February 17, 2025. The current SEBI chairperson, Madhabi Puri Buch, will conclude her term on February 28. The vacancies have been advertised in newspapers under the title ‘Filling up the post of Chairman in Securities and Exchange Board of India.’

The appointment will be for a maximum term of five years from the date the chairperson assumes office or until they reach the age of 65, whichever is earlier, the advertisement specifies.

The chairperson will have the option to either receive a salary equivalent to that of a Secretary to the Government of India or a consolidated monthly pay of ₹5,62,500, excluding house and car, as per the Ministry of Finance.

Buch assumed office as SEBI chairperson on March 2, 2022, becoming the first woman to lead the regulatory body. Her three-year term is set to end on February 28, 2025. Prior to this, she served as a Whole-Time Member of SEBI for five years, from April 2017 to March 2022.

Her tenure had faced turbulence in recent months due to allegations raised by the US-based investment research firm, Hindenburg Research. In August 2024, the firm claimed that Buch and her husband held stakes in "obscure offshore entities linked to the Adani Group’s alleged money-siphoning scandal." Both Buch and Adani have strongly denied these accusations.

Hindenburg Research’s 2023 report against the Adani Group led to a $150 billion plunge in the conglomerate’s market valuation. The firm, known for targeting major corporations, accused the Adani Group of orchestrating "the largest con in corporate history." Since then, Gautam Adani and his family have remained under scrutiny from Hindenburg.