Mumbai, June 19 -- When Ashishkumar Chauhan took the reins at the National Stock Exchange in July 2022, the reputation of the country's largest stock exchange was in disarray. Under his leadership, India's premier bourse is set to launch its initial public offering even as it settles a regulatory investigation that uncovered troubling details of corporate misgovernance by a former chief executive who resigned in 2016. This had left the exchange facing numerous accusations, including one regarding the grant of preferential access to a broker at its colocation premises.

"We were in a state of denial in terms of all the accusations, not just in the old cases from the regulator, but also with respect to anything and everything, for all pract...