The country’s largest stock exchange is also willing to put in place a new mechanism, over and above what currently exists, to address grievances that angry insiders may like to air. However, employees who spread malicious information, disregarding the interest of the organisation, will be pulled up.
The message, conveyed in the course of a pep talk after weeks of bad press and Covid-19 disruptions, was sent out by the chairman of the bourse Girish Chandra Chaturvedi, a former senior bureaucrat, at a meeting this week with close to 40 executives – mostly in the ranks of vice-president (VP) and senior VP.
“He (Chaturvedi) told officials to feel free to approach him. There have been multiple whistle-blower letters that have reached the regulator. The letters continued even under the new board. The press also got wind of it. Almost all are anonymous letters. So, at the end of the day, it’s virtually impossible to spot the employee who is writing it,” said a person aware of the meeting. “While a whistle-blower policy exists as in all organisations, officials were asked whether there could be any other mechanism for looking into complaints,” he said.
“The Sebi order this year has really hurt NSE. So, employees were told to discuss and resolve matters within the organisation and not to act in a disruptive way…. Clearly, the management doesn’t want any more negative publicity,” said another person.
Even as NSE was probed by the central investigative agency for giving preferential treatment to a clutch of brokers in what came to be known as the ‘co-location scandal’, a bizarre story involving the then CEO Ravi Narain, Chitra Ramkrishna who succeeded Narain, group operating officer Anand Subramanian and a mysterious Godman cast a shadow on the exchange.
Ever since the riveting story broke at the start of the year, the premier exchange has faced a flurry of bad press, ridicule, and allegations of a cover-up by subsequent managers and directors who many felt had glossed over the misdeeds of the previous management to shield the institution and pursue its listing plan.
Among other things, the Sebi report in early February said that the then NSE board was aware of the irregularities on Chitra’s part on the appointment of Anand Subramanian.
Amid the glare on the exchange, the 55-year old Vikram Limaye, the current CEO and managing director who succeeded Chitra Ramkrishna, told the NSE board in early March that he would not seek a second term. In interviews with the media, he didn’t give any explanation for his decision. His term comes to an end on July 16. Sources said Saurov Ghosh, NSE’s group head for human resources, who was hired by Limaye, has also resigned.
“The chairman can advise employees to sort out issues quietly, but addressing their grievances would eventually depend on the person who succeeds Limaye,” said an official.
