BSE gets its third chairman in two years,analysts not surprised

The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) has got a new chairman,its third in the last two years. After steering TCS,the largest IT company in India,for many years,S Ramadorai will head the oldest exchange in the country....

The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) has got a new chairman,its third in the last two years. After steering TCS,the largest IT company in India,for many years,S Ramadorai will head the oldest exchange in the country as its non-executive chairman.

The exchanges board of directors has appointed Ramadorai as an additional director and elected him as the non-executive chairman of the company, the BSE said on Friday. Ramadorai,who succeeds Jagdish Capoor,said,It is a great privilege to chair the board of one of Indias important financial institutions at a time of change and innovation. Moving forward,our market is positioned to extend its leadership on a broad range of fronts,including protecting investor interests,raising the bar on self-regulation and governance and ensuring the highest quality market for our customers.

BSE watchers are not surprised with the frequent changes in the top positions especially that of president and CEO of the exchange in the last 15 years. After demutualisation,the BSE has been coming out from the clutches of vested interests and broker lobbies. But the frequent changes at the top level have affected the functioning of the exchange. On the other hand,its rival the National Stock Exchange continues to march ahead of the BSE, said a former BSE official.

Ramadorai,who is also vice chairman of BSE,promises to make a difference. My colleagues on the board of directors and the management team will continue to ensure the success of the BSE and its continued role at the center of Indias capital market development, Ramadorai said. The 135-year old BSE is far behind the 16-year old NSE in the cash market and its nowhere in the derivatives market.

Last week,Jagdish Capoor quit as the non-executive chairman on health ground. Capoor who also quit the board as a director said he had been contemplating leaving the BSE for sometime due to his present indifferent health after his recent illness. Erlier an RBI deputy governor,Capoor acted as chairman of the BSE from August 2005 to September 2007 and again from June 25,2008,to March 2,2010.

In June 2008,bickering among shareholder-directors over the functioning of the exchange led to the sudden resignation of the then chairman Shekhar Datta,and director Jamshyd Godrej. Datta,who was managing director of Greaves earlier,was brought in to give a corporate image to the BSE,but left the Jeejeebhoy Towers the headquarters of the BSE in a huff due to stiff opposition from some members against the modernisation of its trading platform. In fact,NSEs origin in 1994 can be attributed to the reluctance of the BSEs move towards a professional regime.

The exchange also witnessed many unceremonious exits earlier also when it was run by an association of brokers. In 2001,Anand Rathi resigned as the BSE chairman in the wake of the controversy over the taped conversations where he asked for information on specific stocks from the exchanges surveillance department.