Finance Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey appointed new chief of markets regulator Sebi

Pandey’s appointment as Sebi chief marks the second major appointment of a bureaucrat as the head of a regulator, after Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officer Sanjay Malhotra’s appointment as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor in December 2024.

Even though candidates from the private sector are learnt to have been considered for the post of Sebi Chairman, the final section of an IAS officer signifies a reposing of faith in bureaucracy by the government to manage critical institutions of the country. The appointment of the Sebi Chairman is made by the central government on the recommendation of the Financial Sector Regulatory Appointments Search Committee (FSRASC).

Before being appointed as Revenue Secretary in January, Pandey had the charge of Secretary, DIPAM. Pandey, a 1987-batch Indian Administrative Service officer of the Odisha cadre, had taken charge as Finance Secretary in September 2024 after his predecessor TV Somanathan was appointed as Cabinet Secretary. The charge of Finance Secretary is by convention given to the senior-most secretary amongst all the secretaries of the Ministry of Finance.

Pandey, who holds a Master’s degree in economics and an MBA, had earlier played a key role in finalising the sale of Air India as DIPAM Secretary. His appointment as Revenue Secretary just before Budget was seen as a crucial role for him, which he ably delivered as the government finalised the contours of the income tax relief measures and the nuances of the new Income-tax Bill.

Before the present Sebi chief Buch, past chairmen of the markets regulator were either IAS officers or from public sector entities. Buch, who took over as the Sebi chief in March 2022, was the youngest and the first person from the private sector to be at the helm of the regulator. Before being appointed as the Sebi Chairperson, Buch served as a whole-time member of the regulator from April 5, 2017 till October 4, 2021. In her three-year tenure, she focussed on investor protection, strengthening regulations, enhancing market efficiency, introduction of a new asset class and crackdown on finfluencers and other unregulated activities.

In September last year, Buch had announced six major steps to strengthen the equity index derivatives framework. These measures came at a time when the futures and options (F&O) segment was witnessing an exponential jump in trading volumes, with a majority of investors incurring losses. However, her three-year tenure was riddled with controversies.

In August last year, US-based Hindenburg Research alleged that Buch and her Singapore-based husband, Dhaval Buch, had stakes in offshore funds used in the Adani money siphoning scandal. The Buch couple had denied the allegation.

Buch had also faced backlash from her employees after nearly 500 officers protested against the “toxic” work culture at the regulator. Former Sebi chiefs who belonged to the IAS cadre were Ajay Tyagi, U K Sinha, C B Bhave, M Damodaran, D R Mehta and G V Ramakrishna. G N Bajpai, who headed Sebi from February 20, 2002 to February 18, 2005, was earlier the chief of LIC. Two SEBI chiefs — S S Nadkarni and S A Dave — came from the Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI), an erstwhile development financial institution.