Meet Madhabi Puri Buch, the first woman chief of market regulator SEBI

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on Monday (February 28), appointed Madhabi Puri Buch as its new chairperson. This is the first time that the regulatory body which oversees the securities and commodity markets in India and comes under the Union Finance Ministry will be led by a woman in its 34-year history.  

Buch, who replaces Ajay Tyagi, took up the role of SEBI’s whole-time member (WTM) in 2018. In her capacity, her portfolio had included Market Regulation Department, Integrated Surveillance Department and Department of Economic and Policy Analysis.

Not just the first woman chief of SEBI, Buch is also the first SEBI official to have joined from the private sector, having worked with major banks in both India and overseas.

Buch was among several people holed up in a hotel during the Mumbai terror attach of November 26, 2008. She was there with her husband Dhaval Buch, who was a director at Hindustan Unilever Ltd. The couple were there due to a board conference of the FMCG company.

Madhabi Puri Buch, the first-ever woman chairperson of market regulator SEBI

Puri graduated from the St Stephen's College of the Delhi University before earning an MBA degree from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in Ahmedabad.

She then joined the ICICI Group where she had a 17-year-long career, reaching the post of an executive director at ICICI Bank in a 12-year stint and leading ICICI Securities as MD and CEO for over two years from February 2009 to May 2011. She has also had stints with ICICI Web Trade Ltd and ICICI HFC Ltd.

She then joined Greater Pacific Capital LLP as head of the country in Singapore in 2011, before going on to be founder-director of Agora Advisory Pvt Ltd, and also worked with Shanghai’s New Development Bank for 3 years.

She was also held non-executive director role in several major firms -- Idea Cellular (from 2011 to 2017), Max Healthcare, Zansar Technologies, Innoven Capital, and Gabelhorn Investments.

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Her appointment as Chairperson of SEBI has initially been confirmed for a period of 3 years by the Appointments Committee of Cabinet. Appointment shortlists for positions at market and financial regulators are made by the Financial Sector Regulatory Appointments Search Committee (FSRASC), which are presided over by a cabinet secretary. The maximum term for a SEBI chief is 5 years or the age of 65.