Madhabi Puri Buch: A tireless reformer who may face short-term flak but will be thanked later

Related Party Transactions (RPTs) were a nagging concern for Madhabi Puri Buch and she focussed on strengthening disclosure as well as approval process of same, writes JN Gupta.

Charting the firsts associated with Madhabi Puri Buch, the outgoing chairperson of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), is tough but a short listing includes being the first woman to head the regulatory body, the first from the private sector and first with core, hands-on experience of the capital market. But what also distinguished her during her short term was the energy, style and zeal she brought to the job.

Buch surprised many when in seminars, rather than standing at the lectern and reading from a carefully worded text, she moved centre stage and made PowerPoint presentations to drive her point. Data is her oxygen, everything has to be supported by data. And there were no suppressed yawns, as the audience was held in rapt attention.

When one met her in her office, talked to her, listened to her agenda, it was clear that she wanted to achieve in her three-year tenure what would in normal course take more than a decade. Thankfully the team at SEBI also responded and matched her pace, notwithstanding a few murmurs about work-life balance.

She maintained and in fact enhanced transparency in the rules-making process. Constituting the Industry Standards Forums (ISF) on almost all aspects of SEBI’s law-making exercise allowed stakeholders to participate in an open and fearless manner. Buch, recognising the importance of data, cybersecurity and other new developments, ensured that standing committees on such matters were constituted.

Related-party transactions (RPTs) were a nagging concern for her and she focused on strengthening disclosure as well as the approval process governing them. Her constant hammering resulted in the RPT portal jointly developed by proxy advisors to disseminate for free to all investors data on such deals.

Another first was norms for ESG Rating Providers (ERPs), which came out of deliberations in the ESG (environmental, social and governance) advisory committee constituted by SEBI. It is worth noting that India was the first jurisdiction to have ERP regulations.

At times one felt that her pace went beyond that of regular human beings, which on occasion may have rubbed people the wrong way and created problems both internally and externally for those who could not keep up. Yet no one doubted her intent.

My opinion about her tenure can be summed up thus: “People may dislike what she is doing, but in future they will remember her for what she has done for market integrity and development.”

'Ease of doing business' was not limited to mere lip service or reduced to a slogan, it was sincerely implemented; regulatory changes made concerning  rights issues, share buybacks and many are illustrations of this.

Her only drawback to my mind is that she has made life tough for the next SEBI chair, having set a high bar. However, I am confident that her successor will take the capital markets regulator to newer heights.