'Lot of onion peeling, made everybody cry': Sebi chief Madhabi Buch on T+0 settlement

A global first for T+0 settlement involved a lot of problem-solving and personal discomforts, SEBI chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch said giving the analogy of "onion peeling" for the achievement. 

Buch was speaking at the annual convocation of the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA) on Saturday.

"My colleagues often tell me that problem-solving with me is like peeling an onion. It makes everybody cry in the process. But by the time you are done, peeling layer after layer after layer of the onion, you suddenly realise there is no problem left," she said. 

Stock exchanges BSE and NSE on Thursday launched the beta version of T+0, or same-day trade settlement on an optional basis for select stocks, which will offer investors an option to transact in 25 securities in T+0 settlement. 

"When India became the first large market in the world to move to T+1 settlement, and just two days ago when we went live with an optional T+0 settlement, the process felt pretty much the same--lots of onion peeling happened to make for a global first," Buch said.

Buch said she doggedly followed the mantra of doing what is right, no matter how hard, and leaving no stone unturned, no matter how hard. "I believe that at a conscious and a subconscious level, my mantra has been very very simple. Do the right thing, no matter how hard. Leave no stone unturned, no matter how hard. The wonderful thing about this mantra is that eight times out of ten you actually succeed. And the two times that you don't, you have absolutely no regret," she added.

Buch further said the graduates will discover their own mantra for going forward, which will be the "default setting" within which it is effortless for them to operate.