The WFE's Women Leaders 2025 - Yukti Sharma, Vice President and Head of Listing, NSE

Name: Yukti Sharma

Job title: Vice President and Head of Listing

Organisation: National Stock Exchange of India Ltd.

1. Brief description of nominee’s role and job. 

Yukti Sharma heads the listing department of National Stock Exchange of India Ltd (NSE), which is one of the key roles and a part of Regulatory group of NSE. She leads a team of 100+ professionals who are responsible for fund raising approvals, post listing compliances, listing operations and investigations in the affairs of listed corporates for the Equity and Debt Segments on NSE.

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

Yukti is a seasoned financial market professional with 20+ years of experience in the capital markets and banking sector. In her tenure of 16 years with NSE she has been in various regulatory functions such as Investigation, Inspection and Enforcement, Exchange Compliance, Member Compliance and Listing. She has been a part of various working groups and committees that have submitted reports contributing to policy formation such as enhanced supervision of brokers, risk-based supervision, review of regulations governing listed corporates etc.

Yukti holds a Chartered Accountancy qualification, a DISA certification from ICAI and a Bachelor of Commerce degree. In 2015, as a budding leader she was identified as high potential candidate under the Hogan assessment undertaken across the organisation. Her leadership skills were recognised as a winner of top 10% of the Jombay 1000 women leader program, 2023. She is a keen learner and an avid reader.

3. What were your professional highlights and challenges of 2024?

In 2024, I was selected to head the listing function of NSE by the senior management. The new role encompasses multiple responsibilities viz. listing compliance, listing approvals and listing investigations. In listing compliance, we seek to actively engage with listed companies to further improve compliance standards by efficient use of technology and building awareness about the best practices prevalent in the industry. We have planned one on one engagement with companies in addition to the webinars conducted by NSE. In listing approvals, we see enhanced interest of small and medium business to raise funds and list on NSE. We are working on strengthening our due diligence for offer document vetting and exploring use of artificial intelligence and machine learning in the process. Such a use of technology can help the NSE in optimum utilisation of resources and facilitate fund raising by legitimate companies. Similar use of technology is being explored in the listing investigation space, so that the system can assist us to put together information from multiple sources giving the analyst adequate time to analyse rather than collating the information. I am confident that use of innovative solutions can give good results which can be further enhanced with learnings drawn over a period.

4. Tell us about a few of your key achievements throughout your career?

Exposure to different regulatory functions has given me a holistic understanding of capital markets and the ability to manage change. It has also helped me understand the perspective of different stakeholders and regulatory insight. Thus, I have been able to take up different projects and identify best fit innovative solutions. A few distinguished projects are as below:

• NSE Social Stock Exchange – Collaborated with the regulator for developing a framework for fund raising and compliances that will facilitate the right social enterprises coming to the forefront. Built simplified process and system to assist eligible social enterprises to tap the market with ease. This required thinking out of the box as the functioning of social enterprises is very different from that of the regular enterprises, in terms of their focus on social causes rather than profit maximisation and the availability of resources. Presently, NSE has over 70 registered social enterprises and 10 of them have raised INR 22.85 crores by issuing Zero coupon Zero Principal instruments. (2023)
• Implementation of T+3-day listings in equity IPO - Regulatory initiative was implemented seamlessly by modifying exchange processes in a manner that helped all stakeholders viz. Issuers, RTA, Merchant Bankers and Exchange. We identified steps that can be performed in parallel/ merged or done away with, while retaining the internal controls, thereby delivering a faster listing for investors. (2023)
• Listing of Commercial Papers at NSE- To manage the volumes (around four times higher than other debt instruments) and customer need for quicker listings a simplified process was established. We decided to build a system to ensure easier filing and fast processing. This facilitated listings in less than 15 minutes when the issuers approached NSE as against 2-3 hours for other debt products. (2019)
• Uniform penal structure across MII – NSE initiative to remove regulatory arbitrage among different exchanges in the Indian capital market. This required collaboration and negotiations with other exchanges to derive a consensus. (2013)
• Surveillance obligations on members – NSE started generating alerts for members (brokers) assisting them in surveillance of orders placed by their clients. This project involved collaboration with other exchanges and brokers to implement meaningful thresholds for alert generation and creating acceptability among brokers for the same. (2012)
• Streamlining of intraday order and trade level alerts – A six sigma project which helped me eliminate the non-value-added steps to bring down processing time from 45+ days to 4 days, leading to process efficiency and faster actions. (2009)

Prior to joining the exchange I was a part of a team that set up a new branch for a foreign bank this gave me opportunity to set up processes and build internal controls. Thus, developing my strategic thinking and planning skills. I have also worked on process migration from the USA to India for another foreign bank. Working in a team having diverse culture and ethnicity early in my career strengthened by collaborative and critical thinking skills. (2003-2008)

5. What and who inspires, and has inspired, you to achieve your professional success?

My parents have inspired me the most. Since childhood I saw them working hard to give me and my siblings the best education and values. They have taught me that there is no substitute for hard work and that being most intelligent in the lot may not be in your hands, but being most hardworking certainly is. At each step they encouraged me to follow my passion. At NSE, I had the opportunity to work with some of the best talent in the industry, who mentored me to overcome challenges and inspired my commitment to learning and my desire to make a difference. Working in an organisation where my personal values of integrity and trust were aligned with the organisation values fortified my resilience and motivation.

6. How have you overcome setbacks, and what advice would you give to others dealing with setbacks?

I have faced setbacks with a positive approach and identified learning opportunities out of demanding situations, developing my vigour to handle challenges. My strength of staying calm in tough situations has come in handy in this, as it gives me opportunity to reflect and reassess. I have been fortunate to have a set of mentors who are industry veterans and possess diverse experience. I made sure to reach out to my mentors and seek help in a time of need. My mentors have always extended support and provided different perspectives of the situation. With each setback, I have taken steps for course correction and enhanced my resolve to succeed.

My advice to deal with setbacks will be to learn from them and move on. Prepare proactively and move with a growth mindset. Reassess and revaluate as you progress, for continuous improvement. Your emotional intelligence will play a great role in dealing with setbacks. Accepting the situation and building a coping mechanism that works for you is a part of being resilient. Being able to show up on difficult days is the biggest strength that will drive results in long run.

7. What advice do you have for other women who aspire to be in leadership positions? What is the biggest takeaway you want to leave with the reader?

My advice to aspiring leaders would be to work consistently on your goals and not let challenges and setbacks discourage you. Identify your strengths and leverage them, similarly, know your development areas so that you can consciously work on them. Also, anticipate potential obstacles and plan to overcome them. Continuous improvement is the key, however small with each step keep moving towards your goals. Build your support system and recognise the importance of seeking help at the right time. Lead with empathy and create an environment where teamwork thrives. A coordinated team can contribute much more by adding up the strength of each person and compensating for each other’s weaknesses. Be resilient and confident of your abilities but do not fall for superwomen syndrome. The biggest battles that you need to conquer are inner. The first person that you need to convince about your capabilities is yourself. Build alliances with peers and create a network of likeminded people. Actively seek mentors and reach out to them to seek guidance. There is no other teacher like experience, hence capable mentors can guide you to overcome challenges and achieve your goals. Most importantly, define success for yourself and do not go by a societal definition. Your definitions will be unique depending on your beliefs, priorities, challenges and what really matters to you. It is your journey and hence you choose the course and pace.