Who is Tuhin Kanta Pandey? SEBI's 11th chairperson

The Indian government on Thursday appointed Finance Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for three years.

Pandey will be replacing India's first woman Sebi Chief Madhabi Puri Buch, who faced conflict of interest allegations by the US-based short-seller Hindenburg and also political heat thereafter.

So, who is the new chief of the country's market regulator? 

• Pandey is a 1987-batch IAS officer from the Odisha cadre.

• Pandey has an MA in economics from Panjab University, Chandigarh, and an MBA from the University of Birmingham.

• He will be the eleventh person to head the markets regulator since its establishment in 1988.

• Pandey currently is the seniormost bureaucrat in the Finance Ministry and heads the Department of Revenue. 

• He played a key role in shaping India’s fiscal and economic policies during his tenure as finance secretary.

• He was also the Secretary of the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) and was instrumental in the privatisation of Air India and the initial public offering of LIC Ltd.

• Pandey has led various key departments in Odisha including Finance, Health, General Administration, Commercial Taxes, and Transport.

• He has also served as the Managing Director of the Odisha Small Industries Corporation and Executive Director of the Odisha State Finance Corporation.

(With inputs from DHNS)