U K Sinha appointed new SEBI chairman

U K Sinha, chairman and managing director, UTI Asset Management Company, has been appointed the new chairman of the Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI), The Times of India reported quoting sources. It said a government notification to the effect would be issued next week.

C B Bhave, the present SEBI chairman it due to relinquish office next month on the completion of his three-year term. It is not clear though whether Sinha would get a three-year or a five-year term.

Sinha will be the sixth SEBI chairman since the setting up of the regulatory agency a law in 1992. The former Indian Administrative Service Officer association with the capital markets sector goes back to a decade having first worked as a joint secretary in the finance ministry before moving to take over the reins of UTI.

In addition to dealing with the clean up of the sector in the wake of the 2001 stock scam, Sinha was one of the main architects of the UTI revamp, which was warranted due to the collapse of the UTI due to its inability to honour commitments of assured return schemes and wrong investment decisions.

In addition to a bailout, the government split the erstwhile UTI into two entities, one dealing with the assured return schemes while the rest moved to what is now UTI AMC.

Additionally, Sinha has worked on preparation of the roadmap for development of the bond market. The new appointment entails moving across the road from the UTI headquarters in Mumbai's Bandra Kurla Complex to the SEBI head office.