The WFE's Women Leaders 2021 - Priya Subbaraman, Chief Regulatory Officer, National Stock Exchange of India Limited

By: The WFE Focus Team Mar 2021

Nominee’s name: Priya Subbaraman

Member: National Stock Exchange of India Limited

Nominee’s job title: Chief Regulatory Officer

  

1. - Brief description of nominee’s role/job:

Chief Regulatory Officer of the National Stock Exchange of India Limited (NSE) and a part of the management of NSE. NSE is the world’s largest derivatives exchange for 2020, by number of contracts based on the statistics maintained by Futures Industry Association (FIA). NSE is ranked 4th in the world in the cash equities by number of trades for 2020 based on statistics maintained by the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE). The role carries dual accountability – regulation and client service. Departments under Regulatory include inspection and enforcement, listing compliance, surveillance, and investigation. Service-oriented departments include listing approvals, member registrations and approvals, and investor services.


2. - Short bio (career highlights, education, interests/hobbies):

Twenty-three years in Indian and global financial institutions including stock exchange, investment and commercial banks and securities houses, several in leadership roles. Regulatory and compliance coverage of institutional and retail equities business, investment banking, commercial bank lending (domestic and cross border), non-bank finance companies lending and financing, portfolio management, depository participant, primary dealer, foreign portfolio investment, private banking and stock exchange. Employer organisations include NSE, Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, Standard Chartered Bank and Kotak Mahindra.

Education: Associate Member, The Institute of Company Secretaries of India.

Bachelor, Law & Bachelor, Commerce, University of India, Mumbai.

Hobbies: Mentoring economically disadvantaged young women for a career. Watching sports.

  

3. - What were your professional highlights and challenges of 2020:

Handled a significant uptick in operations, during the pandemic.

- Managed surveillance of markets during high volatility and all-time high volumes.

- Managed inspections of trading members during lock down.

- Resolved investor complaints which had doubled in 2020.

- New front end for listed companies released; this was a large project.

- Contributed to a significant digital transformation project.

- Handled substantial workload as a committee member on numerous internal and external committees.

- Board nomination to an investee company and associated responsibilities.

 

4. - What and who inspires/has inspired you to achieve your professional success:

My mentor instilled in me that I must be someone people could count on, someone who makes decisions that are consistent with high standards of ethics and integrity and I must exhibit courage and resilience even when my decisions may be unpopular. This is what inspires me to handle my role and responsibilities with unflagging commitment.


5. - What advice do you have for other women who aspire to be in leadership positions:

My advice is that growth lies out of your comfort zone. Women have choices and if a career and leadership position is your choice, push yourself. Push through your insecurities, take the initiative and never give up.