Tapas Dutta, deputy secretary of the Calcutta Stock Exchange, was yesterday chosen to be the next executive director of the bourse.
This is, however, subject to the Securities and Exchange Board of India approval. The CSE will soon inform Sebi about T K Duttas selection.
"It is too early for me to express any views on the exchange or on the appointment. The formal approval will have to be received from Sebi before any appointment can be made final," Dutta told Business Standard.
One of the public representatives on the CSE board said, of the three candidates shortlisted by the selection committee, Dutta was found to be the most qualified.
Dutta has been with the local exchange for ten years and is a member of the Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India, Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and Institute of Company Secretaries of India.
Another factor in favour of Dutta was his age. A public representative of the bourse said that the exchange was looking for a young team to head the bourse and Dutta fitted the bill.
A board member said that Dutta's selection was a consensus choice, although certain board members initially did not favour his selection.
A public representative on the board admitted that Dutta's proximity to the broking community could limit his ability to discharge his duties objectively.
Dutta will get Rs 5 lakh as annual gross package and he has been retained on contract for a period of three years. On expiry of his tenure, Dutta's performance will be reviewed.
The post of executive director (ED) had been lying vacant since October 17, 1996, after the retirement of former ED, B K Mazumder.The selection process for a new ED had been running into one stumbling block after another.
An elaborate exercise by the selection committee comprising the CSE president, Dinesh Singhania, the Securities and Exchange Board of India executive director, Pratip Kar, chairman of IFB group, Bijon Nag, and chairman of Tea Board S S Ahuja. had narrowed down the choice to Sharma of Mangal Finance, S R Sengupta and brigadier V Parthasarathy.
Sharma was rejected for his alleged involvement with irregularities in Mangal Finance. S R Sengupta was considered to be too close to the broking community here to be able to discharge the duties of an executive director properly.
Brigadier Parthasarathy, who is the former ED of Coimbatore Stock Exchange, was finally selected but he failed to confirm his acceptance to CSE within the deadline fixed.
The bourse then advertised for the post and received about 70 applications of which Dutta and the general manager-IT department, Subroto Das, were the only internal applicants.
The selection committee was retained with Vijay Ranjan, the Sebi nominee on the CSE board replacing Pratip Kar. However, the committee that finally trimmed the choice down to the last three comprised Ranjan, Singhania and A K Ghosh, former chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes.
This change in the composition of the committee was because Bijon Nag was out of the country and Ahuja was unwell, according to the CSE president. Subir Chowdhuri of Indian Institute of Management was also invited to the committee, but he failed to turn up.
Top level changes are likely, according to a CSE board member with P K De possibly being given independent charge of a portfolio. The exact details are yet to be worked out, but according to a public representative, an increase in remuneration as well as a change in designation is likely for senior executives of the bourse.
