'Practicalities' led to extending deadline for cos to split chairman, MD posts: Tyagi

Sebi chief Ajay Tyagi on Monday said only half of the top 500 companies complied with mandate to segregate the post of Chairman and Managing Director and "practicalities" led the regulator to postpone implementation of the plan.

He, however, made it clear that the capital markets regulator is not giving up on its agenda.

In January, Sebi deferred the requirement for splitting Chairman and Managing Director at the companies by two years to April 2022.

The requirements would have meant difficulty for top firms, including Reliance Industries, Wipro and a slew of state-run enterprises like ONGC and BPCL.

"In January, we found that of the top-500 companies, only about 50 per cent of them were complying... it required some more time to be done. That is how more time was given," Tyagi told reporters here.

"They were not able to do it. They run the companies, we don't. They must be having some problems," he noted.

Further, Tyagi said Sebi had got representations from companies and other bodies asking both for additional time to comply and some had also pitched for not having the regulation at all.

"We don't believe that it should not be done," he asserted.

Regarding notices served to the top management of Care Ratings, Tyagi made it clear that the same was issued after the audit committee received a whistleblower complaint against certain practices.

He said the Sebi will take a "strict action" against the wrongdoers in such matters.

The rating agency has come under the regulatory lens in connection with ratings to crisis-hit IL&FS and DHFL.