Sebi panel pitches disclosure overhaul

Goal to strengthen transparency at appointment stage and after

- Apoorva Ajith

The stock market regulator is considering its most comprehensive internal reforms in years, with a top committee proposing sweeping changes to conflict-of-interest and disclosure norms across the organization.

The proposals, which include public asset disclosures by top officials and formation of ethics committees, aim to strengthen transparency at the appointment stage itself, and ensure that individuals with personal, professional, or financial entanglements are identified early.

Candidates for the roles of Sebi chairman, whole-time member (WTM), and other lateral entrants must disclose all actual, potential and perceived conflicts of interest, both financial and non-financial, to the appointing authority in advance, the committee set up by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) in March proposed. The committee’s report comes over a year after American short-seller Hindenburg Research accused its chairperson of a conflict of interest, a charge she denied as “baseless” and “devoid of any truth”.