Despite being eligible for re-election, Vikram Limaye, whose five-year term at the National Stock Exchange (NSE) ended on July 16, chose not to do so.

Ashish Kumar Chauhan has been chosen by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to succeed departing National Stock Exchange Managing Director and CEO Vikram Limaye (NSE). At NSE, Limaye’s employment was up on July 16. 

The Bombay Stock Exchange’s current MD and CEO is Ashish Kumar Chauhan (BSE).

An internal executive committee has been established by the NSE’s regulatory board to oversee firm operations until the new MD and CEO take over. 

Yatrik Wing, group chief financial officer and head of corporate affairs, Priya Subramaniam, chief regulatory officer, Shiv Bhasin, chief technology and operations officer, and Somasundaram KS make up the committee. 

Once the new MD& CEO takes over, the committee will be disbanded.

According to individuals with knowledge of the situation, an official statement will be made on July 18.

On July 16, Vikram Limaye stated that he had done his utmost to steer the exchange during a very “tough era” as well as to stabilise and enhance the bourse. 

Despite being qualified for re-appointment to the NSE after her five-year term ended on July 16, Limaye chose not to do so. 

The NSE is currently under regulatory investigation in a case involving governance failures at the exchange as well as in the co-location situation, which coincides with the end of Limaye’s five-year term as NSE CEO. 

After former NSE MD and CEO Chitra Ramkrishna left the company in July 2017, Limaye was named as the organization’s leader. 

The exchange’s sales increased under Limaye’s leadership from Rs 2,681 crore in FY17 to Rs 8,500 crore in FY22, while its net profit increased during same time from Rs 1,219 crore to Rs 4,400 crore. Additionally, during the time period under study, the company’s return on equity improved from 17 to 34 percent.

Born

Ashish Kumar Chauhan

3 September 1967 (age 54)

India

Nationality-Indian

Alma mater-IIT Bombay, IIM Calcutta

Occupation-MD & CEO of Bombay Stock Exchange

Predecessor-Madhu Kannan

Spouse(s)-Sonal Chauhan

Children-1

Early life

IIT Bombay mechanical engineer and IIM Calcutta alumni Chauhan was hired in 1991 as an officer by the Industrial Development Bank of India (now IDBI Bank).

National Stock Exchange of India

When the government suggested a competing stock exchange in the National Stock Exchange, that was when he got his big break. Chauhan was a part of the original group of people who started the NSE. Chauhan took part in developing the NSE’s trading infrastructure. Along with two other people, he examined the risk management system of NSE. Impact cost, a metric the team developed to gauge stock liquidity, has since become commonplace.

Reliance Industry

In 2001, Chauhan left NSE to begin his entrepreneurship venture, financed by the Reliance group. Soon, his entire team then got shifted to Reliance Infocomm. In 2004, Chauhan became the chief information officer (CIO) of Reliance Infocomm, and then the Reliance Group CIO in 2005. He was also the CEO of the cricket team Mumbai Indians, owned by Reliance Industries, in its formative years.

BSE

Following his departure from Reliance Industries, Chauhan joined BSE as deputy CEO in 2009 before being named CEO in 2012. He is recognised with revitalising the BSE and making it the world’s fastest exchange with a reaction time of less than 6 microseconds, as well as introducing mobile trading, a cutting-edge online real-time surveillance system, and a number of market-leading goods. Additionally, he played a key role in the establishment of “India International Exchange,” India’s first international exchange, which was opened in Gandhinagar, Gift City, in January 2017 by the country’s honourable prime minister, Shri Narendra Modi. He successfully completed the BSE IPO, which had been postponed for more than ten years. BSE IPO got offers for 550.8 million shares, which was oversubscribed by 51 times.

Other recognition 

He serves as the Chair of the National Institute of Technology (NIT) – Manipur’s Board of Governors (BoGs) and is an Independent Director of the ICSI Insolvency Professionals Agency, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Institute of Company Secretaries of India. He serves as the Chairman of the South Asian Federation of Exchanges (SAFE), a group with 28 members from the SAARC region and surrounding nations that aims to provide a forum for the exchange of technologies and experiences in support of the rapid expansion of the capital markets and regional and international integration. He serves as an advisor to the Asia-Pacific Investment Council and the Central Bank of India, and he is a member of the SEBI committee on corporate governance to help enhance the standards of corporate governance of listed firms in India.

Awards and honours 

Distinguished Alumnus Award 2016 – IIM Calcutta

CEO of the Year, Diamond Sabre Awards 2015, Hong Kong

Indian Business Leader of the Year, Horasis Interlaken/Switzerland 2015

RH Patil Award for Excellence in Financial Services, June 2015

Distinguished Alumnus Award, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, 2014

Best CEO in the Financial Markets in the Asia Pacific by the Asian Banker, 2014

Zee Business Awards- Special contribution in Commodities and Capital Market, 2013

TOP 50 CIOs, Information Week, US, 2009