U K Sinha gets extension as Sebi chief

U K Sinha will remain Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) Chairman till March 1, 2017 with the government today extending his term by over a year.

The extension for Sinha, whose current term was to end on February 17, was approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

During his tenure, Sebi has implemented a number of reforms in the capital markets including regarding IPOs, mutual funds and corporate governance. Some of the key initiatives announced recently include a new regime for listing of startups, while Sebi has also launched a major crackdown on market manipulators including those misusing the stock exchange platform for tax evasion and money laundering.

Commodities markets regulator FMC was also recently merged into Sebi, while there have also been apprehensions that a change of guard at this time can be avoided given the sharp volatility in the capital markets globally.

"The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved re-appointment of U K Sinha, Chairman, Sebi with effect from February 18 up to March 1, 2017 or until further orders whichever is earlier," a government notification said.

Sinha, a 1976 batch IAS officer of Bihar cadre, assumed office as the Sebi chairman on February 18, 2011 when the previous UPA government was in the power.

While Sinha was initially appointed with a three-year term, he was later given a two-year extension as Chairman of the regulatory body.

The government in August last year had initiated the process for selecting Sinha's successor at Sebi and a search panel, headed by Cabinet Secretary, was also constituted.

However, there could not be any consensus on the names suggested by the panel.

As per reports, the short-listed names included SBI Chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya, former FMC Chairman Ramesh Abhishek and Thomas Mathew who has earlier served as Joint Secretary (Capital Markets) in Finance Ministry.