Transparency most fundamental attribute of trust: Buch
She said trust is a two-way street, where a company has to build trust with the regulator to build trust with the market while the regulator is working to build trust with the industry as a representative of the public shareholders
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Mumbai: Sebi chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch on Tuesday said the entire edifice of the capital markets rests on trust, and called transparency as the "fundamental attribute" of the same. She said the capital markets regulator acts as a proxy to safeguard the interests of the public shareholders, which account for 56 per cent of the listed companies' holdings as against 44 per cent with the promoters.
"Not just the market, but the entire economy rests on the edifice of trust," she said, speaking at an event on corporate governance organized by industry lobby grouping CII here. "To us as a regulator, the most fundamental attribute of trust is transparency," the Sebi chief added. She said trust is a two-way street, where a company has to build trust with the regulator to build trust with the market while the regulator is working to build trust with the industry as a representative of the public shareholders.
Bajaj Finserv's head Sanjiv Bajaj, who also chairs the CII council on corporate governance, said the lobby grouping is a frontrunner on corporate governance and advises its members to follow it not only in letter but also in spirit. "Sound corporate governance practices play an important role in building sustainable businesses. But they also contribute towards stability, growth and credibility of the larger economy as a whole," Bajaj said. He said that later this year, CII will be coming out with a charter on corporate governance in family businesses.
On Tuesday, Buch launched two reports at the CII meet, one focusing on the impact of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act on enterprises in India and the second is a CII charter on corporate governance for startups. Meanwhile, Buch said reducing the trade settlement times to one day (T+1) has helped the market as the 'defect rate' or the delivery versus payment ratio has halved to about 0.4 per cent. She said the country now occupies centre stage globally when it comes to discussions on technology and other improvements in the functioning of markets.
