One of my students recently approached me for advice.
He was very worried about the crazy competition for UPSC and judiciary exams in India.
He wanted an alternative from the fierce competition.
Chances of an average student to clear some of these exams can be relatively thin. Even good candidates have to struggle very much and deal with incredible uncertainty through multiple attempts.
Is there any other exam which has less competition, but which offers a good pay and future?
I told him about the SEBI Grade A Exam and the incredible salaries which are on par with top law firms. SEBI law officers get metropolitan city postings (mostly in Mumbai). They get incredible future growth opportunities and exposure to the corporate world.
Very few people know about this exam, and most people do not prepare seriously.
But there are some important questions:
Are enough vacancies released every year?
What if vacancies are not announced in a specific year?
Will he/she lose a year in that case?
This is the problem. Most people do not understand the basic maths behind what leads to higher or lower number of SEBI officer vacancies.
I will tell you some facts. Read them and then tell me what you think – whether SEBI law officers vacancy will grow or reduce?
- The Indian securities market is booming like never before. Sensex is breaking new records every year. Over 60 companies launched an IPO on the mainboard in 2022, collectively raising a whopping $16 billion+. India’s SME market is also on a roll.
- There were 185 SME IPOs in 2023, making India the leading country by IPOs all over the world. 2024 appears to be even better! There were 28 IPOs in March 2024 alone, and total funds raised through SME IPOs have doubled in 2024 as compared to the past year to 6000 cr+.
- The Indian stock market earlier was more volatile and dependent on foreign institutional investors’ positions. That is no longer the case, as domestic retail investors are now driving the stock market surge. SEBI needs a sound regulatory framework to protect their interest.
- Currently, only around 8% of Indians have demat accounts. Compare this to developed economies like the USA where over 61% of the population invests in the markets. This means that we can expect a massive growth in the number of investors in the securities markets.
- Typically, market capitalisation is correlated with the GDP. As India’s GDP grows 3x to 10 trillion dollars by 2030 and 6x to 20 trillion by 2040, we can expect its market capitalisation also to increase accordingly, in line with GDP. Looking ahead, projections suggest India’s overall market capitalization could double from current $3.5 trillion to a massive $7.1 trillion at least by 2032, if not more.
- Apart from traditional equity markets, SEBI is focussing on regulatory policies to encourage the debt markets, new derivative products, and several other innovative products like fractional ownership products so that investors have a greater variety of instruments to invest in. These financial instruments require an appropriate regulatory framework as well as continuous monitoring and governance to be in place before they can be available in the market. SEBI involves its law officers to create such frameworks and also in monitoring after launch.
- The work of a SEBI Law Officer does not stop here. After introducing new regulatory frameworks and policies, SEBI needs constant involvement of law officers in monitoring compliance and enforcement of violations. Law officers also play a role in addressing grievances from market participants who report violations of rules, regulations and guidelines. SEBI has frequently raised red flags over numerous unfair or abusive market practices such as insider trading, circular trading, excessive underpricing of IPOs, etc.
- SEBI’s regulatory framework is also periodically amended after factoring in any learnings from past experiences. SEBI needs additional legal workforce for this.
This implies a sustained bull run in capital markets and IPO activity over the next decade, necessitating increased regulatory oversight, more regulations, and extensive enforcement of the same from SEBI to maintain market integrity, prevent unscrupulous practices and to protect investors.
What do all these factors indicate? Do you think that recruitment of SEBI Law Officers is set to multiply manifold in the coming years as the market doubles and quadruples?
For the past few years, SEBI has already been consistently announcing vacancies for the position of Grade A Law Officer, and we can only expect it to increase going forward, giving the massive growth in the Indian economy.
While I do not know exactly how many SEBI lawyers will be hired over the next 3-5 years, I know that the number is only going to go up from here.
That’s why attempting the SEBI Grade A Law Officers Exam is a great idea now.
This opportunity is also not well-known amongst other candidates who want government jobs.
If you want a government job which has less competition, SEBI Grade A Law Officer is definitely the best bet at this time.
If you want to secure an exciting government job, with the best salary and best perks, top notch exposure to the corporate world and a bright future in the private sector later if you wish to make a switch, this is your time.