SEBI employees protest at Mumbai HQ, seek resignation of Madhabi Puri Buch

SEBI employees protest at Mumbai headquarters a day after regulator says unprofessional work culture claims 'misplaced'

Up to 200 employees of Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) held protest on September 5 at the market regulator's headquarters in Mumbai. They were agitating against a recent press release by SEBI calling their earlier letter on unprofessional work culture to Finance Ministry "misguided by external elements".

The protest lasted for around a couple of hours and then they dispersed and returned to their office.

SEBI said on Wednesday that claims of an unprofessional work culture at its offices were 'misplaced'.

"The protest is for the purpose of showing dissent and unity against the arm-twisting exercise done by the top management in the garb of a press release," stated an internal message sent among the employees.

"The immediate demand is withdrawal of press release and resigning of SEBI chairperson for spreading lies against SEBI's employees," stated the message.

In a letter to the Finance Ministry last month, some SEBI employees said that there was "immense pressure" at the regulator, resulting in a "stressful and toxic work environment".

In a press statement, SEBI said the claims stemmed from demand of higher rental allowance and attempts to stop misreporting of targets achieved and delays in taking decisions.

Some "outside elements" instigated its employees to believe that they should not be required to have high standards of performance and accountability, SEBI said in the statement, without disclosing any details about the elements.

Separately, SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch has faced allegations of conflict of interest from US short-seller Hindenburg Research and the opposition political parties, which have demanded her resignation.

Hindenburg has alleged that Buch and her husband previously held investments in offshore funds also used by the Adani Group, which is being investigated by the regulator.

Buch has denied these allegations.

Congress party recently alleged that Buch continued to earn income from a regulated entity - ICICI Bank - where she worked before joining SEBI.

ICICI Bank denied this. Buch and SEBI have not commented.

In its press release, SEBI said it was "committed to serving the complex market ecosystem to a high level of transparency, and responsiveness".