Sebi withdraws statement blaming external elements for staff protests

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has retracted its earlier claim that staff were being “misguided by external elements” in light of recent accusations of a toxic work culture within the organisation.
Less than two weeks ago, the market regulator suggested that external forces were driving internal unrest, which included demands for the resignation of Sebi Chairperson Madhabi
Sebi’s initial reaction suggested that these employee concerns were being manipulated by external elements to discredit the organisation. However, the market regulator has now retracted its September 4 press release, saying that the concerns raised by its employees should be handled within the organisation.
The regulator confirmed that it is committed to addressing these issues through established internal processes and maintaining its high standards of governance.
The retracted press release had suggested that Sebi’s employees were being influenced by external elements to question the organisation’s credibility and leadership.
It started off with a letter written by a group of Sebi employees on August 6, which raised several issues regarding the leadership, without directly naming Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch. The letter highlighted what they called an “unrealistic” work environment and asked for changes at the top.
Following this, Sebi’s statement on September 4 suggested that outside parties were pushing employees to leak information to the media and government to serve their own purposes.
The regulator claimed that the letter was not officially sent by the Sebi employees’ association, and instead was an anonymous email aimed at destabilising the organisation.
Now, with this retraction, Sebi has backed away from those claims.
On Monday, Sebi addressed the matter, saying its employees had condemned the unauthorised release of internal communication and expressed their willingness to resolve concerns through proper internal channels.
Sebi highlighted that employee-related matters will be managed internally and in line with the organisation’s governance standards.
“Following productive discussions with employees of all levels, Sebi and its staff have confirmed that these issues will be handled within the organisation’s established processes and resolved in a timely manner,” Sebi said in a fresh statement.