Sumit Agrawal, who worked in the legal department of the Securites and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for a decade, has quit and plans to start his own law firm. Tuesday was the last day at SEBI for Mr Agrawal.
The 31-year law graduate from National Law University, Jodhpur came into limelight in 2011 when he jointly co-authored a comprehensive book on the SEBI Act dwelling into each provision of the Act and also projected possible future amendments.
When contacted, Mr Agrawal confirmed that he has resigned and is starting his own law firm with a focused practice on regulatory guidelines related to SEBI, Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), Competition Commission of India (CCI) and Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) among others.
Interestingly, the former assistant legal advisor only adds to the long list of lawyers who, after a stint with the capital market regulator, went on to become successful lawyers with independent practice or even in the corporate world.
In the past, SEBI law officers such as Sandeep Parekh, R.S. Loona, Dharmishta N. Raval, P.R. Ramesh and Raghavendra Prasad have either formed their own law forms or have joined the corporate world as legal heads or advisors.
While at SEBI, Mr. Agrawal worked with various departments, including surveillance, legal affairs, commodities and litigation. He was part of the team that investigated matters related to the IPO irregularities scam and Satyam.
He also played a role in the amendments to listing norms, insider trading and public issue guidelines.
The recent past also saw the exit of whole time member Prashant Saran whose tenure ended a fortnight ago.
