Former SBI MD Ashwani Bhatia takes charge as whole-time member at SEBI

Ashwani Bhatia has taken charge as a whole-time member (WTM) at the market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). Bhatia was previously the managing director of the state-owned State Bank of India (SBI). After Bhatia’s joining, Sebi now has three WTMs. The government is yet to appoint the fourth member. The market regulator functioned with just two WTMs for the past seven months after Sebi’s current chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch’s tenure as WTM ended on October 4, 2021, and G. Mahalingam demitted office on November 8, 2021.

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Key points:

• For the appointment of the WTM post at Sebi, the candidates are shortlisted by the Financial Sector Regulatory Appointments Search Committee (FSRASC), headed by the Cabinet Secretary.
• Bhatia has been appointed for an initial period of three years from the date of assuming charge. In August 2020, he was elevated as MD of SBI, where he joined as a probationary officer in 1985. Before that, he was working as the MD and chief executive officer of SBI Mutual Fund.

In the past, the government has had problems appointing IAS officers for the WTM post. This is because the government has made it mandatory for IAS officers to resign from service before they take up the WTM job at Sebi. Most young IAS officers are only willing to take up the job on deputation so that they can again go back to public service after their WTM tenure ends, which is typically for three or five years.

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