Sebi chief Madhabi Puri Buch drew Rs 16.8 cr from ICICI Bank, alleges Congress (2024)

NEW DELHI: Hardening its call for Sebi chief Madhabi Puri Puch's resignation, the Congress has alleged that as a wholetime member of the markets watchdog, she had drawn regular salary from her previous employer ICICI Bank to the tune of Rs 16.8 crore between 2104 and 2017.

Buch who spoke at a public function in Mumbai refused to speak to the media after the speech.

“The present Sebi chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch was drawing a regular income of Rs 16.80 crore from ICICI Bank and ICICI Prudential and Esops from the bank while being a whole-time member of the Sebi between 2014 and 2017,” Congress leader Pawan Khera alleged at a press meeting in New Delhi.

The party further claimed that Buch drew regular income from ICICI Bank from 2017, till September 2, 2024, and even the TDS on Esops was given to her by the bank. She also received Rs 2.17 lakh from ICICI Prudential in 2021-22 and Esops began at Rs 2.66 crore.

Pointing out that the Sebi chief is serious public office, he said she was appointed by the appointments committee of the cabinet headed by the Prime Minister wherein the Union home minister is also a member.

"The role of the Sebi is to regulate the share market where we all invest our money. It has a very important role to play,” he said.

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said serious questions have been raised over the conflict of interest of the SEBI chairperson in the regulatory body's Supreme Court-mandated investigations into violations of securities laws by the Adani Group.

"These questions seem to have been simply brushed aside by the Government of India. Now comes this fresh revelation of shocking illegality," Ramesh said in a post on X.

"The non-biological PM, who has been complicit in providing cover to the SEBI chairperson through his silence, must come clean and answer the following questions What is the fit and proper criteria for appointment of heads of regulatory bodies?" he said.

Has the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), headed by the PM, gone through these shocking facts about the SEBI Chairperson or is the ACC completely outsourced to the PMO, he asked.

Ramesh also questioned whether the prime minister was aware that the SEBI chairperson was holding an office of profit and receiving salary/income from ICICI during her time at SEBI.

"Was the Prime Minister aware that the current SEBI Chairperson as a whole-time member of SEBI was adjudicating complaints against ICICI and its affiliates while also receiving income from ICICI? Why did the current SEBI Chairperson continue to receive ESOP benefits from ICICI even though they had lapsed long ago?" he said. Who is protecting the SEBI chairperson and why, Ramesh further asked.

"The non-biological PM cannot continue this indefinite stonewalling. Capital markets, in which crores of Indians make their investment, demand full transparency and integrity on the part of their regulator," the senior Congress leader said.

Buch is already in the eye of the storm, following allegations by the US-based shortseller Hindenburg Research last month which alleged that she and her husband Dhawal had stakes in the obscure offshore funds used in the Adani money siphoning scandal, a claim outrightly rejected by Sebi, its chief and the Adani group.

Khera also sought her immediate resignation for allegedly violating Section 54 of Sebi.

Buch was a wholetime member of Sebi from April 5, 2017, to October 4, 2021. "Then on March 2, 2022, Buch became the chairperson. Buch, while being a full-time member of Sebi, was drawing regular income from ICICI Bank, which was Rs 16.80 crore. She was also taking ICICI Prudential Esops and TDS of Esops from ICICI Bank. So we want to know why you were taking your salary from ICICI despite being a full-time member of Sebi?" Khera asked.

"This is a direct violation of Section 54 of Sebi. Therefore, if Buch has any shame, she should resign from her post," the party said, stepping up its attack on Sebi chief after the Hindenburg report last month.

The party said these facts raise concerns about a potential conflict of interest involving Sebi's chairperson and that her drawing a regular salary is a serious breach of ethics and accountability in public service and raising questions about her integrity.

"How can one ensure fair regulation when the head of Sebi has been receiving a salary from a private entity like ICICI Bank?" the party asked.

A snip from Congress press release.

"When you work at one company, you take a salary from there only. However, when the chairperson Madhabi Buch was a whole time Sebi member, she was also receiving regular income from ICICI Bank, ICICI Prudential, and Esops from 2014-17. 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,” he said.

The Congress asked ICICI Bank if it declared the salary and Esops benefit being paid to a Sebi member, and why did the bank bypass its own norms on providing Esops.

The party further said Buch's salary was more than doubled from over Rs 2 crore in 2017-18 to Rs 4.71 crore in the next financial year. The party claimed that even though her income from ICICI Bank stopped, her income from ICICI Prudential and Esops continued.

"There's a game of chess going on but we have not been able to decisively arrive at who's the pawn," the Congress said, adding it's a matter of office of profit and anyone with even a bit of self-respect should resign in such a situation.

In summary, the total amount received by the SEBI chairperson from ICICI from her time of joining SEBI in 2017 up until today totals to Rs 16,80,22,143 which is shockingly 5. 09 times the income she received from SEBI during the same period which amounts to Rs 3,30,28,246, the Congress alleged in its statement.

The Congress' fresh allegations come days after Hindenburg Research launched a fresh broadside against market regulator SEBI chairperson Buch, alleging that she and her husband had stakes in obscure offshore funds used in the Adani money siphoning scandal.

SEBI Chairman Buch and her husband have denied the allegations levelled against them as baseless and asserted that their finances are an open book.

Adani Group had also termed Hindenburg Research's allegations as malicious and manipulative of select public information, saying it has no commercial relationship with the SEBI chairperson or her husband.