Former Group General Counsel of ICICI Group Pramod Rao joins SEBI as Executive Director

Former Group General Counsel of ICICI Group Pramod Rao joins SEBI as Executive Director

In a key executive move from corporate India to the regulatory world, Pramod Rao – the former Group General Counsel at ICICI Group, has joined the market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) as Executive Director (ED).

In his new role as the Executive Director, Pramod would be handling the Department of Debt and Hybrid Securities (DDHS), and Enquiries and Adjudication Department (EAD) at SEBI.

Pramod has extensive experience in the Indian financial services sector, having served as Group General Counsel at ICICI group, General Counsel for Citi South Asia cluster. Prior to that, he was a partner at IndusLaw and has also served as the General Counsel of ICICI Bank.

Pramod has also served as a member of the Board of Directors of ICICI Securities Ltd, ICICI Prudential Trust Ltd, ICICI Trusteeship Services Ltd, and as a member of the National Committee for Regulatory Affairs of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), of the Advisory Council of Sahamati & of the SEBI Subcommittee for Regulatory Sandbox.

Having a deep interest in Fintech, LawTech & start-ups, he has co-founded a LawTech enterprise, and also served as a Board member of 2 startups. He has also advised and mentored startups under the aegis of ICICI Bank's Startup Engagement Team & its Innovation Lab, NSRCEL of IIM Bangalore, SINE of IIT Bombay & of No Changemaker Left Behind program by Agami.

He has also led piloting and adoption of innovative approaches and technology-led solutions for various businesses, operational and legal requirements.

On March 1 2022, Madhabi Puri Buch, the erstwhile CEO, ICICI Securities took over the SEBI chairperson Ajay Tyagi to become the first person from the private sector to head the securities market watchdog. She was the first woman to head SEBI and at 56 was also its youngest ever chairperson.