Not Applying For Second Term, Says NSE Chief Vikram Limaye

NSE Managing Director and CEO Vikram Limaye on Wednesday said he will not seek a second term at the stock exchange.

"I have informed the board that I am not interested in pursuing a second term and will therefore not be applying and participating in the process that is underway. My tenor ends on July 16, 2022," Limaye said in a statement.

The exchange's chief said, "I have done my best to lead the organisation in a very difficult period and to stabilise, strengthen and transform the NSE. We have come a long way in terms of controls, governance, technology, regulatory effectiveness and business growth." The National Stock Exchange (NSE) recently invited applications from candidates for the role of MD and CEO.

Limaye is eligible for another term but as per markets regulator Sebi's rule, incumbent needs to compete with other candidates to win the next term.

He was appointed in July 2017 following the exit of former NSE chief Chitra Ramkrishna.

The current chief, Limaye, is credited with re-branding the NSE, besides trading in derivatives witnessed tremendous growth under his leadership. Before joining the NSE, Limaye was MD and CEO of IDFC.

Listing out eligibility criteria, the NSE's notice stated that the candidate must have a track record of strengthening corporate governance, enterprise risk management and compliance management framework.

In addition, the candidates with exposure to working in a publicly listed company or having led an organisation through an initial public offering process "will be an added advantage", it added.

Following the deadline, the candidates will be short-listed by the nominations and remuneration committee of the company.

A selection committee set up by the NSE, comprising NRC members and the independent external members, will recommend candidates to the board, which will then send the name to Sebi for final approval.

The NSE is facing the regulatory probe in a case pertaining to governance lapses at the bourse as well as in the co-location matter, where certain brokers were allegedly given unfair access to exchange data feeds over other members.

In a recent order, the regulator has penalised the NSE's former MDs and CEOs,  Ramkrishna and Ravi Narain, and others for various violations in a case related to the appointment of Anand Subramanian as group operating officer and advisor to then MD Ramkrishna.

The regulator in its order revealed that Ramkrishna was steered by a "yogi" dwelling in the Himalayan ranges in the appointment of Subramanian as the exchange's group operating officer and advisor to MD.

The "yogi", according to Ramkrishna, was a "spiritual force that could manifest itself anywhere it wanted and did not have any physical or locational coordinates and largely dwelt in the Himalayan range".