SEBI chief Madhabi invested in Chinese firms, Congress' fresh charge

The Congress party has accused Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch of trading in listed securities for ₹36.9 crore while at SEBI apart from  investing in Chinese funds.

The Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera told a press conference on Saturday that the transactions had taken place between 2017 and 2023, when Ms Buch was a whole-time member of SEBI and then its chairperson.

Broke SEBI rules

“These transactions are a violation of Section 6 of SEBI Code on Conflict of Interest for Members of Board (2008),” said Mr Khera. “We want to know when and which government agency Ms Buch informed about these assets. We want to know when and when the first time Ms Buch declared these foreign assets was, which government agency she informed, and when.” 

Ms Khera named Global X MSCI China Consumer (CHIQ) and Invesco China Technology ETF (CQQQ,) two funds out of the four in which Ms Buch was allegedly invested in. 

This move from the Congress came one day after the SEBI chief and her husband, Dhaval Buch, issued a detailed statement refuting the allegations against them. The allegations mainly concerned the consulting assignments taken on by Ms Buch's husband after his retirement while Madhabi Puri Buch was at SEBI; their firm Agora Advisory, in which she allegedly owns a 99 percent stake; and receiving payments from listed companies including Mahindra Group, Pidilite, and Dr Reddy's Labs.

The allegations also said that she and her husband received rental income from a company related to Wockhardt, and raised questions about the receipt of payments from ICICI Banks years after she left, as per the report.

`False allegations, in instalments'

Ms Buch and her husband, in a joint statement, termed the allegations as “false, incorrect, malicious and motivated.” She also accused the Congress of levelling false allegations in instalments, saying it was an attempt “only to keep the pot boiling.” 

“We are questioning why you were lying when you said Agora was a dormant company when it wasn't. It was getting consultancy… The other lie was Madhabi Buch saying that she didn't know that she was renting her property to someone related to Wockhardt," he claimed.

Jairam Ramesh, general secretary in charge of communications for Congress, in an X post, posed three questions to Ms Buch and the ruling BJP government: was the Prime Minister  aware of the SEBI chief “trading in listed securities while in possession of Unpublished Price Sensitive Information”; was Mr Modi aware of Ms Buch's investment outside India and its date and disclosures; were Mr Modi and the government aware of Ms Buch's investment in Chinese companies. 

Cong rejects Madhabi versions

The Congress has rejected as insufficient the explanations given by Ms Buch, ICICI Bank, Mahindra Group, Pidilite etc issued to counter Congress' earlier allegations. They have maintained their stance about the payments made by these firms to Ms Buch or entities linked to her as violations of SEBI's Code on Conflict of Interest for Members of Board (2008). 

(By arrangement with livemint.com)