BSE board to discuss CEO exit

The board of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) will meet soon to discuss issues arising from the resignation of its chief executive officer (CEO) and the market regulator Sebi's new ownership and governance norms for the bourses.

The BSE board might meet later this month to discuss the Security and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) norms and the departure of its managing director and CEO Madhu Kannan, sources said.

The exchange would also consult Sebi before taking any final call on the appointment of its next chief, as also to seek further clarity on the new regulations.

Kannan is set to join salt-to-software conglomerate Tata group in a senior position, after his current term at BSE expires next month.

He would join Tata Sons, the group's holding company, as group head (business development) and would report directly to deputy chairman Cyrus Mistry, who himself is set to succeed Ratan Tata as the Tata group chief in December 2012.

Kannan had joined BSE in 2009 and was was instrumental in launching currency derivatives, SME Exchange and derivatives of four global indices trading on the exchange platform. His surprise resignation was incidentally announced a day after the market regulator, Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), announced the long-awaited new norms for ownership and governance of stock exchange, which allows the bourses to get listed, among other decisions.

BSE has been wanting to get listed for a long time, but various conditions put forward by Sebi would need to be discussed before proceeding with any such step. A number of other issues having come to fore with the new Sebi norms would also need to be discussed by the BSE board.

Besides Kannan, the BSE could see some more vacancies at its board as the new Sebi norms has barred induction of trading members on the stock exchange boards.

Currently, the BSE board comprises of three trading member directors, Uttam Bagri, Deena Mehta and Anil Shah, out of which Bagri has reportedly tendered his resignation.

Besides, the board includes Kannan as MD, three public interest directors (S Ramadorai as non-executive chairman, Sudhakar Rao and Sanjiv Misra), and three shareholder directors --Dipak Chatterjee, Andreas Preuss and Keki Mistry.

The new Sebi norms also say that the PID (Public Interest Director) representation should be 50 per cent on the board. Also, appointment of all directors would be subject to the approval by Sebi. As per the Sebi decision, the BSE and other exchanges would also have to constitute a new Advisory Committtee, comprising of Trading and Clearing Members. There are also guidelines related to profits and various listing conditions, among other Sebi decisions, which need to be discussed by the BSE board. PTI