Five top-level changes likely at Sebi by August

A major makeover may be in the offing at Sebi, with as many as five new faces are expected to join in the market regulator's leadership positions over the next few months.

The changes -- in the positions of two whole-time members and three executive directors -- would follow the appointment of a new Sebi Chairman, U K Sinha, in February.

The nine-member Sebi board comprises a Chairman, three whole-time members, two independent members and three nominee directors, including one each from Reserve Bank, Finance Ministry and Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

The three-year terms of two whole-time directors, M S Sahoo and K M Abraham, are ending in July and the government has already begun the process of finding their replacements.
    
The Finance Ministry had in February invited applications till March 30 for the two positions, but has now extended the deadline till April 18.
    
Before beginning the search process, the Finance Ministry had asked former Sebi Chairman C B Bhave, and later his successor too, about whether the two incumbents should be granted extension.
    
Besides the Chairman, another change recently occured in the Sebi board as Corporate Affairs Secretary D K Mittal replaced his predecessor R Badyopadhyay as the nominee of his ministry.
    
Even as the search continues for two whole-time members, the tenure is also ending for three executive directors, namely K N Vaidyanathan, J N Gupta and J Ranganayakulu.
   
These three persons have some key portfolios under their charge. While Vaidyanathan is incharge of mutual funds, J N Gupta takes care of secondary markets and Ranganayakulu of legal affairs and enforcement departments.
    
While the appointment of new whole-time members would be done by the Finance Ministry, Sebi conducts the search process for executive directors and then suggests the prospective names to the union government.
   
The two-year term of both Vaidyanathan and Gupta would end in July, while Ranganayakulu's three-year tenure ends in August this year.
    
The impending changes in high-level decision making positions at Sebi are being eagerly awaited in the backdrop of a number of new regulations proposed by Sebi in the areas being handled by the the incumbents, a senior official said.
    
Some of the major actions taken by Sebi in recent months concerned mutual fund space, while final rules are awaited on issues like new takeover norms and governance and ownership structure of stock exchanges.