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

Third WTM position was vacant for nearly seven months; Bhatia to oversee debt and hybrid securities, AIFs and FPIs

Ashwani Bhatia on Wednesday took charge as a whole time member (WTM) at market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). Bhatia was previously the managing director of state-owned State Bank of India (SBI).

“Bhatia will handle the department of debt and hybrid securities (DDHS), alternative investment fund and foreign portfolio investors department (AFD), market intermediaries regulation and supervision department (MIRSD), corporation finance investigation department (CFID) and office of investor assistance & education (OIAE),” Sebi said in a release.

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.

Legal experts had said keeping key posts vacant at Sebi had strained the market development and made it challenging for the regulator to carry out key functions such as enforcement.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) had approved Bhatia’s appointment in March. However, his joining was delayed due to procedural issues. Bhatia had resigned from his posts at SBI. However, his resignation took time to get processed, leading to the delay in joining, said a source.

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.

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.

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.