All The Allegations Against SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch

Following pressure from the opposition after Hindenburg Research report made serious allegations against the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) chairperson, Madhabi Puri Buch, and her husband, it is being reported that the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PCA) will be probing the matter raised by the US-based investment research firm.

According to a report by the Economic Times, after demands from members, the decision was taken to add the allegations to the committee’s agenda. Notably, the PAC is headed by Congress leader KC Venugopal and has members from both the NDA and the opposition INDIA alliance.

Read Also:  SEBI Employees Protest, Demand Madhabi Buch’s Resignation

Allegations Against Madhabi Puri Buch

According to the Hindenburg Research, the SEBI chairperson and husband held stakes in obscure offshore funds used in the Adani money siphoning scandal. The couple allegedly owned shares in Mauritius and Bermuda funds implicated in the scandal.

The report also alleged that the Sebi chairperson earned more through a consultancy firm in which she held a majority stake than through her official SEBI salary, which he did not disclose.

Notably, adding more to Hindenburg’s allegations, Chairman Emeritus of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. (ZEEL) Subhash Chandra recently leveled fresh accusations against the Sebi chief, including corruption. Chandra alleged that Buch was involved in illegal payments with former ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar. He also accused the Sebi chief of having bias against him that contributed to stalling the Zee-Sony merger. Chandra also declared he would stop cooperation with Sebi and suggested taking legal action against Buch.

Read Also: Congress Demands Independent Probe Into Allegations Against SEBI Chief Madhabi Buch

Congress had also alleged that Buch received salary and ESOP payments from ICICI Bank during her tenure from 2017 to 2024, which exceeded her official compensation as a SEBI employee. Though the ICICI Bank clarified that the payments were related to Buch’s retirement benefits, the party has sought an investigation, questioning the legitimacy of these payments, their frequency, and their amounts.

Creating more trouble for the Sebi chief, an internal letter sent to the finance ministry alleged toxic work culture under Buch’s leadership at the market regulator. The letter written by the Sebi employees slammed the chairperson’s management style, citing incidents of public humiliation, verbal abuse, and excessive monitoring of employee movements.

However, Madhabi Buch has denied all the allegations, calling them baseless.