How a 'yogi' took major decisions for National Stock Exchange
The discoveries are part of SEBI's final order issued on Friday following an investigation against Ramakrishna, NSE, and four others. The order was made public on Friday and may be found on the market regulator's website.
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FollowChitra Ramkrishna, the former CEO and MD of the NSE, India's largest stock exchange with a combined market capitalisation of about $4 trillion, was directed by a Himalayan yogi in 2013 to choose Anand Subramanian as the exchange's chief operating officer (COO). The discoveries are part of SEBI's final order issued on Friday following an investigation against Ramakrishna, NSE, and four others. The order was made public on Friday and may be found on the market regulator's website.
The unusual incident was revealed in an order issued by market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India against the exchange and its former MD & CEO Chitra Ramkrishna for governance failings while selecting Anand Subramanian as its chief operating officer (COO) and advisor to Ramkrishna.
"SEBI's examination discovered that the abovementioned unknown individual had considerably affected Ramkrishna's decision making as evidenced in the emails exchanged between them as pursued by Sebi," the market regulator claimed in its 190-page ruling.
Ramkrishna addressed the unknown yogi as "Sironmani" and shared with him information such as the NSE's five-year projections, financial data, dividend ratio, business plans, board meeting agendas, and even employee performance appraisals.
Ramkrishna was fired from the NSE in 2016 for her participation in the co-location, as well as a trading scheme and abuse of authority in Subramanian's hiring. Ramkrishna was found to have run NSE with impunity, according to the investigation. No one in senior management, the board of directors, or the promoters — which included large government organisations and banks — ever objected to her methods. Instead, when Ramkrishna left the NSE, she was awarded Rs 44 crore in overdue dues and salaries.
The SEBI investigation discovered that Ramkrishna talked with the yogi, whom she had never seen, through email for nearly 20 years and that he advised her to designate Subramanian as the NSE's second in command. "Their spiritual powers do not require any such physical coordinates and would appear at will," Ramkrishna said to SEBI. She did not deny the substance of the email.
On January 18, 2013, Subramanian was given the position of Chief Strategic Advisor at NSE for an annual salary of Rs1.68 crore, compared to his previous pay (as claimed) of Rs 15 lakh at Balmer Lawrie. In March 2014, Ramkrishna authorised a 20% raise for Subramanian, raising his pay to Rs 2.01 crore. Five weeks later, Subramanian's compensation was increased by 15% to Rs 2.31 crore after Ramkrishna rated his performance as A+ (exceptional). By 2015, his cost-to-company had skyrocketed to Rs 5 crore, and he was given a cabin adjacent to Ramkrishna, as well as first-class foreign air travel. All of this was done according to the yogi's directions.
An email from the unknown yogi even carried the diktat that Subramanian be exempt from the contractual 5-day work week and instead be asked to come only for three days and allowed to work the rest of the time at will.
Dinesh Kanabar, the then-Chairman of the NSE nomination and remuneration committee, verified these results. Subramanian had all of the powers of the MD and CEO and was travelling first class, but on paper, he was still a consultant. SEBI discovered a clear conspiracy of a money-laundering plot between NSE's boss and an unnamed individual.
According to the SEBI judgement, "It is not uncommon for the whip of an arbitrary and dictatorial regime to make any employee fearful of raising a complaint against its top leader for fear of penalties. This is obvious from the multiple anonymous complaints received by SEBI against Ramkrishna, which resulted in these proceedings and the discovery of other irregularities."
Ramkrishna informed SEBI that at the time, neither the remuneration committee, the NRC, nor the NSE board had raised any questions about these concerns, nor had any issues been brought to her knowledge. Ramkrishna is now forbidden from participating in capital markets for three years. SEBI has ordered the NSE to forfeit the excess leave encashment of Rs1.54 crore and the delayed bonus of Rs 2.83 crores.
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