Sebi withdraws statement blaming 'external elements' for employee protests

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Monday retracted its earlier statement blaming "external elements" for recent employee protests against its “work culture” and calls for the resignation of the regulatory body’s chief, Madhabi Puri Buch.

“Sebi addresses employee-related matters through appropriate internal mechanisms. Following constructive discussions with representatives of all grades of officers, Sebi and its employees have reaffirmed that such issues are strictly internal and will be managed in accordance with the organisation’s high standards of governance and within a time-bound framework,” the regulatory body said in a press release.

This latest development comes over a week after scores of Sebi employees gathered for a silent protest outside the regulator's headquarters in Mumbai's Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), following Sebi's earlier statement issued on September 4.

“…all concerns shall be addressed amicably through established internal channels," Sebi stated in its latest release.

Sebi employees protest: What happened earlier?

On September 4, the regulator denied allegations of an unprofessional work culture, suggesting that junior employees were misinformed about automatic promotions and their compensation.

This was in response to news reports that Sebi employees had approached the Finance Ministry with grievances regarding senior leadership. These allegations initially surfaced in an anonymous email sent on August 6. Subsequently, the employees submitted a list of 16 demands related to compensation and other benefits, Sebi said.

The regulator noted that the anonymous email was not sent by employee associations, which had condemned it. Earlier, Business Standard had reported that the Finance Ministry has stated that human resource-related issues should be addressed internally.