Sebi officials complain of toxic work culture: Report

The officials said they wrote to the finance ministry after their complaints to the management went unheard.

Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) officials have in a letter to the finance ministry accused the leadership of facilitating a toxic work culture, the Economic Times has reported.

"Shouting, scolding and public humiliation have become a norm in meetings," the report cited an August 6 letter as saying. The publication said it reviewed the letter.

In response to ET’s queries on September 1, Sebi said matters with employees were resolved. "The issues referred in your mail have already been addressed by Sebi. Engagement with employees for resolution of their issues is a continuous process," the market regulator was cited as saying in an email.

Moneycontrol couldn’t independently verify the report, which comes at time when Sebi chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch is facing conflict of interest charges over the inquiry into accusations made against the Adani group by the US short-seller Hindenburg Research.

Recently, the Congress has also questioned the compensation ICICI Bank paid to the Sebi chairperson. Buch worked with the private bank before she joined Sebi in 2017.

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The letter, “Grievances of Sebi Officers - -A Call for Respect”, says the leadership led by Buch uses "harsh and unprofessional language" towards team members, monitors their "minute-by-minute movement" and has imposed "unrealistic work targets with changing goalposts". This has impacted mental health and thrown work-life balance out of gear, they said.

The market regulator has around 1,000 grade A and above officers (assistant managers and above) and half of them, around 500, signed the letter, the report said.

The officials said they wrote to the finance ministry after their complaints to the management went unheard.

The ministry didn’t respond to ET’s queries.

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The "core of their grievance" is the leadership "calling names" and "shouting" at them. "Unprofessional language is casually used by people at the highest level," the reported quoted officials as saying, complaining of an oppressive atmosphere.

They said several people, including those in higher grades, "have chosen not to express their concerns vocally for fear of vindictive nature of people at the highest level".

Sebi said changes have been made. "In respect of the work environment, format of review meetings has been changed. Hence, issues (with regard to) meetings stand addressed," the regulator told ET, adding two employee bodies acknowledged the changes via emails on September 3.