NEW DELHI (Reuters) -India’s finance ministry is inviting applications from qualified candidates to head the country’s markets regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), it announced in a newspaper advertisement on Monday.
The term of the current chief, Madhabi Puri Buch, who was appointed in March 2022 for a period of three years, ends on Feb. 28. She was under intense pressure to resign last year because of a conflict of interest in a case involving the Adani Group but denied the allegations.
The finance ministry, in its advertisement, asked candidates to submit applications by Feb. 17. It said the tenure would be five years or until the appointee reaches 65.
The first woman to be appointed SEBI chief, Buch was at the helm while the regulator probed allegations made by U.S. short-seller Hindenburg Research against the Adani Group, accusing it of stock manipulation and improper use of tax havens.
Group Chairman Gautam Adani has denied the allegations.
The short-seller alleged in August that Buch had a conflict of interest in the Adani matter because of a previous investment in an offshore fund used by the Adani Group.
Buch, however, said the investments were made before she joined the regulator and she had complied with all disclosure requirements.
Hindenburg Research’s founder Nathan Anderson announced earlier this month that he would disband the firm.
(Reporting by YP Rajesh; Writing by Sakshi Dayal; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Raju Gopalakrishnan)
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