Chairmen come and go, Sebi remains: Bhave on his retirement

Mumbai, Feb 7 (PTI) C B Bhave, the outgoing chief ofmarket regulator Sebi, today said it was the institution thatwas supreme and not the person heading it.

"Chairmen come and go, but Sebi remains there," Bhave toldreporters here after a board meeting of the Securities andExchange Board of India (Sebi). This was the last boardmeeting chaired by Bhave, whose term ends on February 17.

When asked about the ending of his three-year tenure,Bhave initially quipped: "I have also read the notificationthat you have read."

He was referring to the government announcement onJanuary 28 that U K Sinha, head of fund house UTI AMC andchairman of mutual fund industry body Amfi, would succeedBhave as the Chairman of capital markets regulator Sebi.

Asked again about his exit from Sebi, Bhave said that theregulatory body was supreme and not the person heading it.

Bhave parried questions related to his experience as Sebichief and only said: "It''s been pleasure intreracting with youpeople (as Sebi Chairman)."

Bhave took charge as Sebi chairman on February 18, 2008 ona three-year term.

His tenure as the most powerful person in the capitalmarket was marked with many significant developments.

Some of moves like raising the investment limit for retailinvestors in an initial public offering (IPO) to Rs 2 lakhfrom Rs 1 lakh were lauded as highly beneficial to investors.

Some other decisions that angered a host of entities,including insurance regulator Irda and corporate houses likeSahara and FTIL-MCX group.

Besides, some of the Sebi decisions for mutual funds, suchas ban on entry load, were also criticised by the fund housesfor negatively impacting their business, although these werelapped up as pro-investor policies.

Initially, there were expectations that Bhave might get anextension, as is the case with many directors at regulatoryauthorities, but later it was said that he might not beinterested in that and his spats with other regulators couldhave further spoiled his chances.