The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), which has been functioning with only one whole-time member since May, will finally get one more member on board. According to sources, former Sebi member Prashant Saran has finally got the requisite nods for a second stint and a gazette notification is expected in a couple of weeks.
This would come as a welcome relief for the capital market regulator that has been facing a staff crunch at the highest level for close to two years now. Currently Rajeev Agarwal is the only whole-time member at Sebi, which has a sanctioned strength of three members.
?Prashant Saran?s name was first among four names that were sent for regulatory clearances and by virtue of his prior stint at Sebi and a clean record, he has received the final go-ahead before the others,? said a person privy to the development. ?His name will be notified soon even as the approval for one more member is taking time,? he added wishing not to be named.
Saran joined Sebi in May 2009 for a three-year stint, prior to which he was a chief general manager in Reserve Bank of India (RBI) heading the department of banking operations and development (DBOD).
Recent reports suggest that along with Saran, the names of Bank of India (BoI) chairman Alok Misra, Canara Bank chief S Raman and former Sebi executive director Usha Narayanan were also on the list of probables. Saran and Misra, however, were widely believed to be the front-runners. Narayanan retired from Sebi last month after serving the regulatory body for 21 years.
Sources add that while there are two vacancies at Sebi, the panel shortlisted four so that if in case there are any last minute rejections at the highest level, the whole process need not be repeated all over again. Last year saw Central Bank of India chairman R Sridhar failing to get a clearance from the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) due to which only Agarwal was named as a whole-time member.
This forced the regulator to function with only two members at a time when many significant policy decisions like the new takeover code, ownership and governance of market institutions, primary market reforms and consent order guidelines were in various stages of review and implementation.
According to the selection process, once the vigilance clearance is received, the names are sent to the Cabinet?s Appointments Committee, headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.