Madhabi Puri Buch, SEBI's first woman chief, has three decades of experience in financial markets

In their response to Hindenburg’s allegation’s, SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch said that the transfer of the shareholding of her firm in her husband`s name was disclosed to SEBI as well as the tax authorities in India. Pic/PTI

Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch has found herself in the middle of a huge controversy after US-based short seller Hindenburg Research on August 10 published a report stating that she and her husband Dhaval had stakes in "both the obscure offshore entities used in the alleged Adani money siphoning scandal". The report has triggered strong reactions from Opposition leaders who has asked her to tender her resignation on an immediate basis.

Hours after the report was published, Buch and Dhaval put out statements and denied all the allegations. They accused Hindenburg Research of "character assassination" and said, "We have no hesitation in disclosing any and all financial documents, including those that relate to the period when we were strictly private citizens, to any and every authority that may seek them."

Before becoming the SEBI chairperson, Buch worked at the New Development Bank in China and was also the founder-director of consulting firm Agora Advisory Pvt Ltd. She joined ICICI Bank in 1989 and has had a career in financial markets for three decades.

When she replaced Ajay Tyagi as the SEBI chief in 2022, Buch became the market regulator's first woman chairperson. She is also the youngest SEBI chief as well as the first from the private sector.

An alumnus of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM)-Ahmedabad, Buch also worked with the New Development Bank - established by the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) bloc - in Shanghai.

Apart from her banking career, Buch also founded an organisation that works with grassroot NGOs.

Her husband Dhaval is a senior advisor at Blackstone and consultancy firm Alvarez & Marsal. He is also a non-executive director of a sports apparel brand.

In 2013, Buch and Dhaval set up a consultancy firm in Singapore. According to the Hindenburg report published on August 10, Madhabi held 100 per cent shareholding in the firm but transferred it to her husband completely following her appointment as SEBI chief.

In their response to Hindenburg's allegation's, Buch and Dhaval said that the transfer of the shareholding was disclosed to SEBI as well as the tax authorities in India.