Finance secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey is SEBI’s new chief

The government appointed finance secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey as the new chairman of the securities and exchange board of India (SEBI). Pandey will be at the helm of the markets regulator for an initial term of three years.

The government order said, “The appointments committee of the cabinet has approved the appointment of Shri Tuhin Kanta Pandey, IAS, Finance Secretary and Secretary Department of Revenue to the post of chairman, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), initially for a period of three years from the date of assumption of charge of the post or until further orders, whichever is earlier.”

Tuhin Kanta Pandey is SEBI head for 3 years

Pandey took charge as the secretary of the department of revenue under the ministry of finance on January 9th this year. He is set to replace Madhabi Puri Buch, whose three-year term ends on March 1. When Buch was appointed three years ago, she was the first women to head the markets regulator.

Before Buch, Ajay Tyagi served as the SEBI chairman for five years succeeding UK Sinha. Pandey, an IAS officer from the Odisha cadre, has been the secretary of three departments under the Ministry of Finance since 24th October 2019. Before that he held top positions in the central and Odisha’s state government.

Pandey has a postgraduate degree in economics from Punjab university and an MBA from the university of Birmingham in the UK. The appointment of Pandey comes after Buch was embroiled in a conflict-of-interest controversy.

A US short seller, Hindenburg Research, which shut its shop in January this year, accused Buch of conflict of interest in an investigation into Adani group’s financial dealings. While Buch denied those allegations, there were widespread calls for the SEBI chief to step down last year.

(With inputs from the agencies)