New Delhi

India's market regulator will likely hold a crucial board meeting on Monday for the first time since allegations of conflict of interests on its chief, Madhabi Puri Buch. This is according to media reports.

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Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) chief Madhabi Puri Buch is facing accusations of conflict of interests from US-based Hindenburg research and India's main opposition party - Congress.

Likely agenda

The agenda is reported to include SEBI's withdrawal of the press statement following a 'toxic work culture' complaint by over 500 employees in a written letter to the finance ministry.

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According to media reports quoting sources, the SEBI board is also expected to take cognisance of the allegations on Buch, even as they are not listed on the official agenda.

According to an unnamed source in a media report, "Between the last board meeting and Monday's meeting, any significant event concerning the institution, its board members, including the chairperson, has to be taken note of by the board."

Events since last meeting

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Since SEBI's previous board meeting on June 27, workers have complained to the Ministry of Finance to voice their displeasure with the company's "toxic work culture."

Following media reports on the worker's complaint, the SEBI issued a statement blaming outside forces for the discontent among the employees. However, after workers protested over that statement, the regulator retracted its press release.

The other significant event between the previous board meeting and now is the allegations against the SEBI chief.

During this period, Hindenburg said Buch and her husband had invested in offshore funds run by Vinod Adani, who is the brother of Adani group chairman Gautam Adani.

The US firm alleged that these funds were reportedly used to manipulate money and inflate the stock prices of the group's listed firms in India.

Hindenburg also accused SEBI of favouring Blackstone by changing regulations pertaining to real estate investment trusts (REITs).

Buch's husband is a senior advisor at Blackstone investment firm, which runs two of the largest REITs in India.

Opposition accusations

After Hindenburg's allegations, India's congress party accused Buch of trading in listed securities and selling employee stock options from her previous employer, ICICI Bank, during her term at SEBI.

The Congress party also claims she made money through her advisory firm that offered consultancy services to listed companies, breaching the regulator's conflict of interest policy.

While the board has not yet provided any comments, the Buch couple and the SEBI have published separate statements refuting the accusations. In addition to Buch, the eight-member board includes four full-time SEBI members and three nominees appointed part-time by the Indian ministries of Finance, Corporate Affairs and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

Media reports quoting sources show that SEBI's external members may insist on debating the allegations against the chairperson. The other agenda points are likely to include easing rules related to rights issues, introducing a new asset class, and introducing rules easing entry for mutual funds that focus solely on passive schemes.