Madhabi Puri Buch joins SEBI as its first woman executive

The government on Monday appointed Madhabi Puri Buch as the chairman of market regulator SEBI with an initial term of three years. Buch will be the first woman to head the country’s financial regulatory body.

She will take charge on March 1, the day the term of Ajay Tyagi, the current chairman, ends. A veteran in the finance field, Buch is also the first person from the private sector to head the financial market regulatory body in India.

Buch was not only the first woman as the whole-time director of SEBI, she was also the first one from the private sector. She started her career with ICICI Bank and went on to become MD and CEO at ICICI Securities between  February 2009 to May 2011.

Until October last year, Buch was a whole-time member at SEBI and demitted office a few months before completing her five-year term with the regulator. In December, she was appointed to head SEBI's Advisory Committee for Leveraging Regulatory and Technology Solutions, a panel that advises the regulator on using cutting-edge technology solutions for regulatory and supervisory actions.