Race for Sebi's new chief begins, prominent names come up

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: Names of several prominent personalities have started doing the rounds as capital markets regulator Sebi's incumbent chairman UK Sinha's tenure is coming to an end soon.

Finance Ministry has sped up the search for the new Sebi chairman because Sinha's term is scheduled to come to an end on February 17, 2016.

As per a report in the Economic Times, Disinvestment Secretary Aradhana Johri, former Reserve Bank of India deputy governor Subir Gokarn and Forward Markets Commission ex-chairman Ramesh Abhishek among 50 others are vying for top Sebi post.

Sinha, who has been at the helm at Sebi since February 18, 2011 had got a two-year extension in 2014. Under the stewardship of Sinha key reform measures were initiated in the capital market.

These include stringent disclosure norms, strict regulations for merchant bankers and the introduction of a new category of foreign investors.

Sinha's three predecessors --- CB Bhave, M Damodaran and G N Bajpai -- had three-year term. Only D R Mehta had served as Sebi chairman for the longest duration from 1995 to 2002.

Sinha, a 1976-batch IAS officer, had served as Joint Secretary in Finance Ministry and joined Sebi after serving as the chairman and MD of UTI AMC.

In recent times, Sebi has also been active in cracking down on illegal money-pooling schemes.