The BSE Governing Board has appointed Mr. Rajnikant Patel, as Executive Director & Chief Executive Officer (C.E.O.) of BSE - The Stock Exchange, Mumbai, for a period of 5 years. Prior to his appointment Mr. Patel was the Chief Operating Officer (COO) and member of the Governing Board of BSE.

"It is an honour as well as a privilege to take up the stewardship of the oldest exchange in Asia. The immediate challenges on hand are to develop the derivatives segment, spread our distribution network and utilize our vast knowledge and database. Moreover, we have to lay greater emphasis on the efficiency of the organizational framework in the light of the demutualisation and corporatisation of BSE, which is on the anvil."

"For the past few years we have passed through trying times but with active co-operation of regulators, members and staff of BSE we have faced all hurdles and I hope to receive their unstinted support to carry on the path of progress," said Mr. Patel.

Brief Profile :

Mr. Rajnikant Patel, joined the BSE as Director - Surveillance & Inspection in March 2001, and was elevated to the position of COO in May 2003 and was also given the additional responsibility as CFO.

Since joining the Exchange his first and foremost assignment was to bring Operation Credibility to the Surveillance function of the Exchange, which at that time was under severe scrutiny of the regulatory authorities. Various initiatives/measures were introduced in order to achieve the same and restore the confidence of the regulators, investors and members.

He spearheaded various initiatives and measures for the Surveillance Department, which led to the Dept. being awarded the prestigious ISO 9001:2000, an achievement which makes BSE the 1st exchange in Asia and 2nd in the World to obtain such a certification.

An accomplished banker, Mr. Patel had a long stint with the banking regulator The Reserve Bank of India and had also worked with BNP PARIBAS. He started his career with Bank of Maharashtra and subsequently joined State Bank of Saurashtra.

Mr. Patel is also a guest faculty at various institutions like the RBI’s Bankers Training College, College of Agricultural Banking, ICSI, ICAI, etc. He is Director on the boards of Central Depositories Services (India) Ltd. (CDSL) and BOI Shareholding Ltd. (BOISL).

He has represented BSE at the Securities Market Development Program of US Securities & Exchanges Commission (SEC), Washington, and at the MIT, WFE (World Federation of Exchanges), USA.

Mr. Patel is an M.Com and also holds an LLB degree with additional qualifications in CAIIB (I), Certificate in Banking, Certificate in Treasury & Forex Management - ICFAI.

Mr. Patel is the convener of BSE’s initiative on Gujarat Earthquake relief programme.

Kalyan S. Bose
Head - Corporate Communications

28 September 2004