Oliver Wyman to help Sebi become future-ready

Organisational restructuring, review of regulator's performance to be part of global consultant's mandate

In a first-of-its-kind move by any regulator in India, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has decided to appoint global consulting giant Oliver Wyman to advise it on organisational restructuring.

Oliver Wyman, the US-based management consultancy, operates in 25 countries and will also advise Sebi on its performance record. According to a senior Sebi official, this would be the first time that a regulator would open itself up to a performance review by an outside agency. “So far, it was either parliamentary committees or the media reviewing our performance. An external point of view is required to keep us on our toes,” the official said.

The organisational review will include its human resource policy, (Sebi has 500 employees on its rolls), restructuring of the organisation in tune with the specialised needs of the future, training, technology, cooperation with external agencies and sharing of regulations with self-regulatory organisations like stock exchanges. “In short, the exercise will help Sebi to be future-ready,” the official said.

The process of shortlisting Oliver Wyman, which involved global tendering, took nine months. Sixteen global agencies had applied for the job. Apart from their consulting expertise, their experience of handling issues concerning the Indian capital markets and intermediaries were also considered. The official, however, declined to specify the fee to be paid to the consultant.

Oliver Wyman is a leading global management consulting firm with specialised expertise in strategy, operations, risk management, leadership development and organisational transformation. The company is a part of the NYSE-listed Marsh & McLennan group.

Apart from Sebi’s structural and organisational issues, the consultant will help re-prioritise areas of focus and look at the future technological and manpower needs with emphasis on attracting and retaining good quality talent.

Organisational restructuring was one of the top priority areas for Sebi Chairman U K Sinha when he took over early last year. The logic was that Indian markets were so globalised that any global event would impact India and regulators must be conversant with the global best practices — an argument the Sebi board accepted.

On its website, Oliver Wyman has said it has decades of work experience with the world’s top 100 financial institutions and provides them with customised solutions covering all aspects of risk management, including its application to financial management. “We have helped the world’s leading financial institutions address their most significant challenges to shape the future of the industry,” the consultant has said.