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Informist, Wednesday, Apr. 9, 2025

--SEBI sets up high-level panel on conflict of interest for board, officials

--SEBI: Panel to review existing conflict of interest framework, dislosures

--SEBI: Panel to come up with "recusal policy" in conflict of interest code

--SEBI: Panel to submit report on conflict of interest code in 3 months

NEW DELHI – The Securities and Exchange Board of India has set up a high-level committee to review comprehensively the market regulator's code on conflict of interest for its own board members. SEBI said in a press release Wednesday that the panel would also consider applying the new conflict of interest code on officials of SEBI.

The committee will have six members with former chief vigilance commissioner Pratyush Sinha as the chairman. Other members include Uday Kotak, founder and director, Kotak Mahindra Bank; G. Mahalingam, former SEBI whole time member; Injeti Srinivas, former corporate affairs secretary; Sarit Jafa, former deputy comptroller and auditor general' and R. Narayanaswamy, former professor, Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore.

The committee is expected to submit its report within three months, according to SEBI. The board of SEBI had approved the constitution of a high-level committee in its meeting on Mar 24. After the committee submits its final report, the SEBI board will consider and take a view on it.

The stock market regulator expects the committee to identify gaps and ambiguities in the existing conflict of interest code and recommend a robust framework for preventing and mitigating conflict of interest of SEBI board members and officials and it must include a detailed recusal policy. The review will also cover enhancement of disclosures pertaining to property, investments, financial liabilities in respect of SEBI board members and officials. SEBI also wants the committee to recommend a mechanism for investors and market participants to raise complaints on conflict of interest and related disclosures of board members and officials. 

In his first press conference on Mar. 24 to announce the board meeting decisions, Tuhin Kanta Pandey, the new chairman, had said that the decision to set up the committee was made to build back public trust. Last year, the US short-seller and investment firm, Hindenburg Research, had made several accusations of conflict of interest pertaining to former SEBI chief Madhabi Puri Buch in the matter of SEBI's investigation into Adani group's foreign shareholders and other related matters.  End

Reported by Rajesh Gajra

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury

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