Sebi chief was drawing salary from ICICI, Congress alleges

Madhabi Buch was a whole-time member of Sebi from April 5, 2017 to October 4, 2021 before she assumed the role of Sebi Chairperson from March 2022.

The Congress on Monday accused Sebi Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch of conflict of interest, alleging that she was drawing regular income from a private bank while being a full-time member of the markets regulatory body. The opposition party also asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to come clean on her appointment.

At a press conference in Delhi, the Congress alleged that since the current Sebi chairperson took office in 2017, she has not only been drawing a salary from Sebi but has also been holding an office of profit at ICICI Bank and its holdings, continuing to receive income from them to this very day.

"When you work at one company, you take a salary from there only. However, when the Sebi Chairperson was a whole time member of Sebi, she was receiving regular income from ICICI Bank, prudential, and ESOP from 2017-2024. Someone sitting in such a higher position in a regulatory body was receiving a payment from somewhere else. This is completely a violation of Section 54 of Sebi," said Congress leader Pawan Khera during the press conference.

Madhabi Buch was a whole-time member of Sebi from April 5, 2017 to October 4, 2021 before she assumed the role of Sebi Chairperson from March 2022. Buch, who started her career in 1989 with ICICI Bank, served as the CEO of ICICI Securities from February 2009 to May 2011.

In its press release, the Congress alleged that the total amount received by Buch from ICICI from her time of joining Sebi in 2017 up until today totals to Rs 16.8 crore, which is "shockingly 5.09 times the income she received from Sebi during the same period which amounts to Rs 3.3 crore"