Tuhin Kanta Pandey has his work cut out as the new chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi).

He will have to restore the credibility of Sebi, boost employee morale, assuage retail investors amid the current stock market mayhem and bring full transparency into certain high-profile investigations.

The central government late on Thursday appointed seasoned bureaucrat Pandey as the new Sebi chairman for a term of three years. He will take charge on Monday.

Pandey will replace chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch, whose tenure ends on Friday. Pandey is a 1987-batch Odisha-cadre IAS officer, and before this appointment, he served as the revenue secretary.

His appointment comes at a time the stock markets are facing a whiplash on account of US President Donald Trump’s protectionist policies and other headwinds back home. These include economic slowdown, disappointing corporate performance, FII exodus and rich valuations.

On the other hand, at a regulatory level, though Buch, in her tenure, introduced several reform measures, it was marred by controversy after Hindenburg Research accused her of having a conflict of interest.

The short-seller alleged that Buch and her husband, Dhaval Buch, had invested in offshore entities that were allegedly part of a fund structure in which Vinod Adani — the elder brother of Adani group founder chairman Gautam Adani — also had investments.

It is felt that Pandey will have to increase transparency on this front and bring in a framework by which top officials, including the chairman, will have to disclose their investments and potential conflict of interest.

Another work that awaits him will be to improve the staff morale.

Buch, during her term, was known for undertaking a plethora of measures through consultations. However, in that process, the accusation was that she had set ``unrealistic work targets’’ and that she also employed ``harsh and unprofessional language’’.

Pandey may have to address all these issues and also halt the attrition,n which reportedly had increased in recent times.

During his term, Sebi will also be releasing its final findings into the allegations made by Hindenburg Research against the Adani group.

Sebi will also have to restore the confidence of both foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) and retail investors in the current market turmoil.

It will have to continue its action against manipulators apart from reining in finfluencers using various social media platforms.