Joshi joined SBI in 1964 and has worked with various departments, including international banking, credit management, information technology, factoring services, and general management. Joshi was selected from among 70 candidates who had applied for the executive director's post. A Securities & Exchange Board of India (Sebi) appointee, Joshi was chosen by a panel comprising Sebi senior executive director LK Singhvi, former Unit Trust of India (UTI) chairman SA Dave, Ashwin Parekh of Pricewaterhouse, and BSE president Anand Rathi.

According to sources, other prominent names being considered were BG Daga of UTI, and Crisil's Ravi Mohan.

Joshi's appointment comes after RC Mathurresigned from the post in April this year following a showcause notice and a Sebi inquiry into his role in price-rigging at counters of BPL, Videocon, and Sterlite.

Mathur was found guilty of having violated norms during the price-rigging and the subsequent payments-crisis issue at the bourse last year. Mathur resigned more than a year before his term was to have come to an end. The then BSE president JC Parekh was also removed from his post for his role in the price-rigging case. The Sebi order was challenged by Parekh before the appellate authority in the finance ministry, which turned down his plea. The authority held that Sebi was well within its powers to issue directives of the kind that it had issued and said that the punishment was in line with the guilt of the petitioner.

The appointment of Joshi as the new executive director comes at a time when the country's capital market will witness a major change. While BSE itself has set a mission 2005 target to make the bourse the number one in thecountry, the introduction of derivatives trading will ad a new dimension to the operation of the bourses. Once the government's nod for derivatives trading is received, the exchanges will start trading in these instruments. Among the other challenges facing the new incumbent to the ED's office is the expansion of the BOLT network to keep pace with the Nationals Stock Exchange. Internet trading and expansion of the stock exchanges overseas are the other key issues apart from the routine administration of the bourse.