Internship Experience @ Securities & Exchange Board of India, Mumbai: Policy Drafting, Prepare a Project

Your Name, College, Year of Study, Email ID

Sudeep Aravind Panicker, School of Legal Studies, CUSAT, 5th Year

Name of Organisation, Location city, Team Strength

Securities & Exchange Board of India, Mumbai

Application Process with contact details

The application process for internship at Securities & Exchange Board of India, Mumbai, shall be made through your respective colleges.

The contact person is Mr. Biranchee Narayan Sahoo, HRD, e-mail – biranchins@sebi.gov.in

Ideally, any application shall be made 2-3 months prior to the desired/requested period of internship. In my case, the whole process the was accelerated through a personal contact.

Usually, the Board does not entertain applications sent in an individual capacity.

A Bonafide Certficate from your concerned college should be kept ready, and shall be sent to Board, upon request after the primary scrutiny of your application has been completed.

If you are selected/allotted an internship, you will be asked to fill a form with the signature and seal of the Head of your Department, which shall be intimated to you in detail in the letter of acceptance.

Duration of Internship and timings

My period of internship was for three weeks, from 13th of June to 1st of July, 2016.

First impression, first day formalities, infrastructure

It was an exciting first day at SEBI. The SEBI Head-Quarters is a huge building opposite the NSE.

The first day at SEBI was pretty much about formalities and a briefing.

On the first day of the internship, the interns have to obtain security clearance and should undergo emergency fire-training as part of the same, wherein the interns under the various departments and any other person whom shall have associations/works with the SEBI office, would be required to obtain the clearance for any further entry to the office in the coming days, and shall be issued an ID-card.

The interns are required to carry the original of the Bonafide Certificate, as mentioned earlier, and the clearance procedure starts with handing over the certificate along with the forms that are supplied along with the confirmation mail.

The SEBI office is a highly secured building and any entry/activity within the campus is restricted. They have each floor dedicated to each department. Floor ushers in each floor direct you to the necessary office.

The legal-interns are given a choice to work with either the Legal Affairs Department or the Enforcement Division, given the number of interns are not too much, in which case, they will assign you with either of the departments according to their need.

I was assigned to work with the Legal Affairs Department.

I was allotted a work station and the wifi-password on the second day, as the above stated procedures took much of the first day at the office.

Main tasks

As I was assigned to work with the Legal Affairs Department, the main tasks involved a lot of research and policy drafting.

One of the works entrusted to me involved going through almost all regulations passed by SEBI, thus making a consistency-check and vetting them for any inconsistencies.

The interns are supposed to make a project at the end of their internship term on a topic of interest or on any topic assigned to them.

Work environment and people

The work environment was very friendly and relaxed. The officers and other staff are always there for your help, in case of any doubts or for any other need.

I, as an intern learned how to think from the point of view of a regulator of the market to ensure its objectives.

The officers were very much patient and they always took the time to ensure that we interns understood what the issue at hand was, and how to approach each issue when going into the intricacies of any subject matter.

Best things

My time at SEBI had a lot of plus points. The exposure, as to how things work within a regulatory body was one such experience.

SEBI has interns from all fields of study related to the market and interacting with them was a delight.

SEBI provides you with breakfast, lunch and evening snacks, all free of cost ! And the pantry served sumptuous food everyday.

Bad things

Not many bad experiences, but one of the bad things I encountered at SEBI was the times when I had to wait for a long time to meet the HR and other officers for completing the procedures relating to the internship certificate.

Stipend

No Stipend.

Biggest Lessons

The time spend at SEBI can be immensely rewarding in terms of the experience and learning that one can get from interacting in works done at the office.

The importance of communicating with the senior and junior officers is to be stressed. That in itself is a huge source of learning.

Any Other Thing

Internships at SEBI should be for a term not less than 2 months.

It is the ideal term for internship with SEBI because only then can we involve as much into a work, as the works done within SEBI can be slow moving because of the immense procedural requirements.

Accommodation

The Board provides for accommodation for the interns, subject to the availability. The interns are provided accommodation facility within the SEBI’s Employee Quarters located at Malad East.

The office of SEBI is in Bandra Kurla Complex. Transport to and from the accommodation facility can be arranged with the help of the employees of the Board, if needed. Separate payment will be applicable.

The employees are very cordial and helpful when approached with any such need.

Whereas, I preferred to stay with a family friend near Santa Cruz, as that meant less time lost in transit and more time to explore Mumbai.

Office Timings

The official office timings were that of any other Government office, 9:00 a.m to 5:00 p.m.

The officers punch-in at sharp 9:00 a.m and interns are also urged to be on time.

The office time ends at around 5:00 to 5:30 p.m, and most of the people leave the office at around 5:30 pm so as to beat the traffic and the rush hour.

In most of the days, the works get over by 5:30 p.m and seldom have I seen, anyone leaving the office after 6:30, unless, for special circumstances.

The workload was also not too much, and were things that could be finished within these office timings.