We had nothing to hide: Former Sebi chief Ajay Tyagi on NSE scam

Representative Image: Reuters

The former chairman of Securities and Exchange Board of India Ajay Tyagi asserted that the regulator had nothing to hide in its investigation of the colocation and dark fiber scam at the country's largest stock exchange NSE.

"We really had nothing to hide. SEBI tried in earnest to investigate the matter and nobody is in position to say that we diluted the orders (in NSE scam)," Tyagi said in a press briefing on March 2 as he vacated his post after five years at SEBI.

The regulator has come under scrutiny from the ministry of finance for its handling of the NSE scam with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman suggesting recently that she is examining SEBI's role in the issue.

While the NSE colocation case came out through a whistleblower complaint in 2015, SEBI's investigations and orders came in the tenure of Tyagi, who was SEBI chief from February 2017 to February 2022.

Former Whole time Director Madhabi Puri Buch has assumed office as the new SEBI chairperson from March 1.

Also Read: The road ahead for Madhabi Puri Buch as SEBI’s chairperson

SEBI's latest order in the NSE colocation case imposed restrictions and penalties on former NSE CEO Chitra Ramakrishna and COO Anand Subramanian among others for their role in corporate misgovernance and the colocation case.

Sebi's order also refuted Chitra Ramakrishna and NSE's assertion that unknown person who directed the actions of the former CEO was an NSE insider.

Tyagi said that he was satisfied at the end of his tenure and counted the regulator's handling of the COVID-19 situation as one of the major achievements of his tenure

Tyagi, who pushed for several measures on corporate governance at his time, said he hoped that shareholders themselves will push companies to separate the role of the Chairman and managing director or chief executive officer.

In his last biard meeting as chairman in February, the regulator backteacked from its rule mandating separation of chairman and MD/CEO rope from April 1 citing lack of compliance. SEBI made the rule voluntary for corporates to comply with.

Tyagi also said that the capital market regulator should work towards better execution of rules going ahead and highlighted insider trading as one of th biggest issues for SEBI.