Chief of India’s market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), Madhabi Puri Buch has been in the news since late night of Saturday due the high-level allegations levied by Hindenburg.

The US-based short seller, Hindenburg, has alleged that the SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Buch and her husband, Dhaval Buch, had hidden stakes in the exact same obscure offshore Bermuda and Mauritius funds, found in the same complex nested structure, used by Vinod Adani.

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Vinod Adani is the brother of Gautam Adani, the Indian business tycoon against whom the Hindenburg had levelled allegations through a report in January 2023 of siphoning money.

The report highlighted that we had previously noted Adani’s total confidence in continuing to operate without the risk of serious regulatory intervention, suggesting that this may be explained through Adani’s relationship with SEBI Chairperson, Madhabi Buch.

Who is SEBI chief Madhabi Puri Buch?

Born in 1966 and raised in Mumbai, Madhabi Puri Buch is the first-female chairperson of India’s markets regulator SEBI since March 1, 2022.

Her appointment was not just a milestone for gender equality in Indian finance but also a significant moment for the country’s regulatory framework.

She was a former whole-time member of SEBI, replaced Ajay Tyagi, whose five-year term came to an end.

Buch oversees key departments relating to regulation, supervision and surveillance and spearheads economic and policy analysis, investor assistance and education and information technology departments.

The chief has direct supervision of the National Institute of Securities Markets (NISM). Her leadership has been instrumental in advancing the NISM and driving policy reforms aimed at modernizing India’s financial markets.

The IIM-Ahmedabad alumnus is the youngest SEBI chief and the first person from the private sector to head the securities market watchdog.

Educational background and previous career

Madhabi Puri Buch holds an MBA degree from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad and has a graduate degree in Mathematics from St Stephen’s College, New Delhi.

Buch has three decades of financial market experience.

Her journey in the financial sector began in 1989 when she joined ICICI Bank, where she rapidly ascended the ranks.

She also held a senior position at a private equity major and had a brief stint with the New Development Bank, set up by the BRICS bloc of nations.

At ICICI, she too diverse roles, from investment banking to marketing and product development.

Her leadership qualities came to the fore when she became the first woman to serve as Managing Director and CEO of ICICI Securities in 2009.

After ICICI, she expanded her horizons internationally, and served as a Consultant to the New Development Bank in Shanghai and led the Singapore office of Greater Pacific Capital, a private equity firm.

Upon returning to India, Buch held non-executive director positions on the boards of several major companies, including Idea Cellular Ltd and NIIT Limited.

She has also set up a small foundation that undertakes projects with grassroot NGOs. Buch has also served as a non-executive director on the Boards of various companies.

Who is the husband of Madhabi Puri Buch?

Madhabi Puri Buch is married to Dhaval Buch. He is an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi (IIT-D), where he graduated in mechanical engineering in 1984.

Dhaval Buch’s LinkedIn profile describes him as having “deep experience in procurement and all aspects of the supply chain.”

He is currently a senior advisor at Blackstone and at Alvarez & Marsal, and also serves as a non-executive director on the Board of Gildan.

Dhaval served as executive director at Unilever and rose to become its Chief Procurement Officer.