Mumbai:

Benchmark Sensex closed above the historic 84,000-mark for first time while Nifty settled at a new record high on Friday, powered by a rally in frontline bank stocks along with upbeat trends in the US and Asian markets.

The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 1,359.51 points or 1.63 per cent to settle at an all-time high of 84,544.31. During the day, it soared 1,509.66 points or 1.81 per cent to hit the momentous intra-day peak of 84,694.46.

The NSE Nifty surged 375.15 points or 1.48 per cent to close at a record 25,790.95 level. During the day, the gauge zoomed 433.45 points or 1.70 per cent to reach an all-time intra-day peak of 25,849.25.

From the 30 Sensex firms, Mahindra & Mahindra jumped over 5 per cent. JSW Steel, ICICI Bank, Larsen & Toubro, Bharti Airtel, Nestle, Adani Ports, Hindustan Unilever, HDFC Bank, Tech Mahindra, Maruti, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Tata Steel were the other big gainers.

State Bank of India, IndusInd Bank, Tata Consultancy Services and Bajaj Finance were the laggards.

“The Indian market has joined the rally following the 50bps Fed rate cut and super accommodative monetary policy. It is expected to bring positivity to the economy and foreign inflows in the short to medium-term as the global economy continues to be robust,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services said.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong settled in the green.

Equity markets in Europe were quoting lower. The US markets ended remarkably higher on Thursday.

“The Dow and S&P 500 setting yet another record highs yesterday is indicative of the strength of this ongoing global bull run led by the mother market US,” V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services, said.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 2,547.53 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.23 per cent to USD 74.71 a barrel. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Saket Gokhale. File photo
| Photo Credit: ANI

The Stock Exchange Board of India (SEBI), which is in the centre of a storm following multiple allegations being levelled against its chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch, has “completely abandoned its autonomy”, Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Saket Gokhale said on Friday (September 13, 2024).

Also read: ‘All allegations are false, malicious, and motivated’

As opposition parties continued their attack against the SEBI chief, the TMC leader said any violations that involved the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), like the allegations of a stock market manipulation through exit polls, are being “brushed under the carpet” by the board. 

“SEBI has now completely abandoned its autonomy and is functioning solely on the orders of the ruling party BJP… Therefore, any violation that involves the BJP, like the alleged stock market exit poll scam, is brushed under the carpet,” Gokhale told PTI. 

The TMC was the first opposition party to approach the SEBI, demanding a probe over allegations of stock market manipulations through exit polls after the results of the Lok Sabha elections were declared. 

On June 13, TMC’s Parliamentary party leader in Rajya Sabha Derek O’Brien had written to the board seeking an appointment for a delegation of party leaders to meet Buch. 

A delegation of TMC comprising MPs Kalyan Banerjee, Sagarika Ghose and Saket Gokhale, as well as Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Arvind Sawant and NCP (SP) leader Vidya Chavan, had on June 18 submitted a letter to the SEBI demanding a probe in the allegations of stock market manipulation. 

SEBI in reply had shared written replies to questions from Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.  US short-seller Hindenburg Research had last month alleged that the SEBI chairperson and her husband had stakes in obscure offshore funds used in the Adani money siphoning scandal. Buch had categorically denied the allegation.

In January last year, Hindenburg Research, which in the past has shorted, or bet against, companies like electric truck maker Nikola Corp and Twitter (now X), accused Adani Group of pulling “the largest con in corporate history” by using a web of companies in tax havens to inflate its revenue and manipulate stock prices, even as debt piled up.

After the Hindenburg report, the Supreme Court asked market regulator SEBI to complete its investigation and set up a separate expert panel to look into regulatory lapses. The panel did not give any adverse report on Adani and the apex court too stated that no other probe other than the one being done by Sebi was required.

TMC leader Mahua Moitra meanwhile has approached the Lokpal seeking a probe in the allegations against Buch.  Moitra shared a screenshot of submission of both the online complaint and the physical copy on X.

“My Lokpal complaint against Ms. Puri-Buch has been filed electronically and in physical form. Lokpal must within 30 days refer it to CBI/ED for a preliminary investigation and then a full FIR enquiry,” Moitra said.

“Every single entity involved needs to be summoned and every link investigated,” she added.

The Congress has also made a series of allegations of irregularities against Buch.

This includes Buch and her husband having received rental income from a Mumbai firm that has been investigated by the SEBI for multiple cases.

The Congress has also alleged that the SEBI chairperson had a 99 per cent stake in a firm when it provided consultancy services to the Mahindra and Mahindra Group and her husband received Rs 4.78 crore as income from the conglomerate while she was adjudicating cases of the same group.

Amid the row over allegations against SEBI chairperson Madhabi Buch, the Congress on Thursday (September 5, 2024) demanded an independent inquiry into the matter, asserting that it is in the national interest to have a probe as foreign investors were getting concerned and there were doubts about the integrity of India’s stock markets.

The Opposition party said only an objective, independent inquiry with the SEBI Chairperson Ms. Buch stepping aside was needed until then can restore trust and confidence in India’s stock markets and hence the economy.

Chairman of Professionals’ Congress and Data Analytics Praveen Chakravarty claimed that lots of skeletons are tumbling out of the cupboard of SEBI, which is one of the nation’s most important institutions.

Also Read: On SEBI chairperson’s conflicts of interests

“On 10 August, a foreign research firm issued a report with allegations against the SEBI chairperson and her family regarding offshore funds, for which they claimed to have documentary evidence. This allegation was made by a research firm, not by any political party. In response, a cabinet minister of the Modi government addressed the issue,” he said at a press conference at the AICC headquarters.

Why did they respond to the allegation made by a foreign research firm against an individual at SEBI, Chakravarty asked.

“SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch is not responding, but ICICI is. Why?” he said.

Mr. Chakravarty also pointed out that 500 SEBI officers have written a letter to the Government of India alleging that the work environment under Buch’s leadership is “toxic, abusive and fearful”.

“Today, a news report says that Ms. Madhabi Puri Buch did have two employments when she was at ICICI. She was also employed in a private equity fund called Greater Specific Capital… Ms. Buch may have been recruited as a finance professional, but this raises a long list of allegations and questions. Doesn’t it raise more concern?” he said.

Also Read: SEBI blames ‘external forces’ for fuelling discontent among its staff, says they are well-paid but misguided

Why is there hesitation in conducting an impartial and objective inquiry, the Congress leader asked.

“As a former financial professional myself, I have received several calls from foreign investors asking, ‘What is the status of the market regulator? Can we trust India’s securities market? What is happening with the integrity of the market regulator?'” he said.

Mr. Chakravarty asserted that the Congress wants a very strong, robust stock market in the country.

“We want foreign capital in our stock market. This is too important for the country; it is a national issue. The real question is: Who is being protected here? Why is the ED silent on Madhabi Puri Buch?” he said.

“This is a national issue. If foreign investors are getting concerned and there are doubts about the integrity of India’s stock markets because of a series of allegations against the chairperson of the market regulator, is it not in the national interest to conduct an inquiry to get to the root of this matter and resolve it,” Mr. Chakravarty said.

He said several people are coming out with information and journalists are carrying out investigations to bring out the truth. He also highlighted the portal https://indiawhistleblower.com where information can be posted anonymously.

The Congress also shared information about it on its X handle.

“Be the voice for change! Blow the whistle for a brighter, progressive India! Share your evidence anonymously & securely – your identity is 100% protected. Submit now and help shape a better future for our nation!” the Congress said, sharing the website’s address.

The Congress on Monday (September 2, 2024) had levelled fresh conflict of interest allegations against SEBI Chairperson Buch and asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to come clean as the head of the appointments committee of the cabinet on her appointment.

The Opposition party had said the Supreme Court should take cognisance of these fresh revelations and demanded that the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) chairperson should be dismissed immediately.

At a press conference, the Congress had alleged that since the current SEBI chairperson took office in 2017, she has not only been drawing a salary from SEBI but has also been holding an office of profit at the ICICI Bank, continuing to receive income from them to this very day.

Subsequently, the ICICI Bank said it has not paid any salary or granted ESOPs to Ms. Buch after her retirement on October 31, 2013, as alleged by the Congress.

The Congress, in turn, had questioned the ICICI Bank’s assertion that it had not paid any salary or granted ESOPs to the SEBI Chairperson after her retirement and asked that if the amount paid to her was her “retiral benefit”, why was it non-uniform both in terms of its frequency and amount.

These allegations come days after Hindenburg Research launched a fresh broadside against Ms. Buch, alleging that she and her husband had stakes in obscure offshore funds used in the Adani money siphoning scandal.

SEBI Chairman Buch had denied the allegations levelled against them as baseless and asserted that their finances are an open book. Adani Group had also termed Hindenburg allegations as malicious and manipulative of select public information, saying it has no commercial relationship with the SEBI chairperson or her husband.

A bird flies past the logo of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) at its headquarters in Mumbai on April 19, 2023.
| Photo Credit: REUTERS

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has blamed “external elements” for “misguiding” its staff, more specifically junior officers in House Rent Allowance (HRA) issues, to target its credibility and “its leadership”.

“It is our belief that SEBI’s junior officers, who were in large numbers, originally aggrieved in respect of HRA allowances, have been misguided, perhaps by external elements to believe that as “employees of a regulator”, they should not be held to high standards of performance and accountability even though they have in fact demonstrated that they are fully capable of delivering to high standards to the market ecosystem,” SEBI said on Wednesday (September 4, 2024).

They have been misguided also to believe that they were being underpaid even at a CTC of ₹34 lakh per annum and that it would be in their interest to “use issues of work culture to bargain for monetary benefits and to believe that they should get automatic promotions”, it said.

It opted not to name the “external forces” by saying “we would not like to speculate on who those external elements may be or what their motives might be”.

Responding to media report

On SEBI’s work culture, the market regulator released a five-page statement stating that the employees, in recent past, were demanding 55% increase in HRA over the allowances set in 2023 among numerous other benefits.

“Employees also raised an issue on updation of SEBI’s automated Management Information System for Key Result Areas (KRAs), which had been designed to bring more transparency, fairness and accountability within SEBI. A 15-minute silent protest was held in this context,” SEBI said.

It said a group of employees consciously designed a strategy to change the narrative to frame the issue as relating to the work environment “with an objective to have bargaining power to seek more benefits”.

“Accordingly, a letter focused on “work culture” was crafted and sent to HRD on August 06, 2024. Thereafter, after 7 days, apparently as part of the strategy, a second letter was submitted with a long list of 16 demands, for numerous monetary and non-monetary benefits including increase in HRA,” it added.

Further, automatic promotions at lower performance ratings without interviews was demanded, it further said.

Stating that SEBI officers were already well paid and for entry-level officers at Grade A, the cost-to-company (CTC) is ₹34 lakh a year that is comparable to private sector salaries, the regulator said the staff started demanding an additional CTC of almost ₹6 lakh per annum.

“The claims of unprofessional work culture in the letter dated August 06, 2024 are misplaced and seem to stem from instances such as under-pitching of processing capability of officers by as low as 1/4^th of actual capacity,” it said.

Also, misreporting of status of achievements of KRAs, shuttling of files between departments over a long period to avoid taking decisions and “adjusting” appraisal marks of poorly performing officers to “somehow” make them eligible for promotion, it said.

In such instances, the officers concerned have been held accountable, given firm feedback, and corrective actions taken.

“It is unfortunate that some elements have attempted to diminish the significant capabilities of SEBI employees by instigating employees to believe that, as “employees of a regulator” they should not be required to have such high standards of performance and accountability,” SEBI stressed.

“SEBI apprehends that the junior officers have been receiving messages from external elements outside their group, effectively instigating them to…go to media, go to the Ministry, go to Board…, perhaps to serve their own purpose,” it said.

“In fact, the letter of August 06, 2024 was not sent by the SEBI employee associations to the Government (and a section of the media). It was an anonymous email that was sent, and officers and associations have themselves condemned it and communicated the same to HRD through emails,” it claimed adding most unions have given in writing that they had not escalated the matter beyond the official channel.

New Delhi:

Madhabi Puri Buch, the chairperson of SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India), has not been paid any salary since her retirement, ICICI bank said today, denying Congress’s “office of profit” claims.

The Congress had alleged earlier today that Ms Buch, who joined SEBI as a member in 2017 and subsequently became its chairperson, had received Rs 16.8 crore from ICICI Bank as salary and other compensation.

“ICICI Bank or its group companies have not paid any salary or granted any ESOPs to Madhabi Puri Buch after her retirement, other than her retiral benefits. It may be noted that she had opted for superannuation with effect from October 31, 2013,” the bank said in a statement.

“During her employment with the ICICI Group, she received compensation in the form of salary, retiral benefits, bonus and ESOPs, in line with applicable policies…All the payments made to Ms. Buch post her retirement had accrued to her during her employment phase with the ICICI Group. These payments comprise ESOPs and retiral benefits,” the statement read. 

Congress’s Jairam Ramesh has claimed a conflict of interest on part of the SEBI chairperson. He said serious questions have been raised about it in the regulatory body’s Supreme Court-mandated investigations.

“These questions seem to have been simply brushed aside by the Government of India. Now comes this fresh revelation of shocking illegality,” Mr Ramesh said in a post on X.

At a press conference today, alleging conflict of interest, the Congress asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to come clean as the head of the appointments committee of the cabinet on her appointment. 

The party alleged that the total amount received by Ms Buch from ICICI from her time of joining SEBI in 2017 and till today, totals Rs 16.8 crore which is 5.09 times the income she received from SEBI during the same period — Rs 3.3 crore.

The Supreme Court, the Congress said, should take note of the fresh revelations and demanded that the SEBI chairperson be sacked immediately. 

Individually, SEBI imposed penalties in the range of ₹3 crore to 7 crore on Rana Sugars, its promoters, and other related entities.
| Photo Credit: Special arrangement

Markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has debarred 14 entities including, Rana Sugars promoters’ and other related entities from the securities markets for two years and slapped a ₹63-crore fine on them on charges of diversion of funds.

The regulator also prohibited Inder Pratap Singh Rana (promoter), Ranjit Singh Rana (chairman), Veer Pratap Singh Rana (MD), Gurjeet Singh Rana, Karan Pratap Singh Rana, Rajbans Kaur, Preet Inder Singh Rana and Sukhjinder Kaur (promoter) from holding any position as director or key managerial person of any other listed company for two years.

On SEBI chairperson’s conflicts of interests

Ranjit Singh, Veer Pratap and Sukhjinder Kaur were also the promoters of Rana Sugars Limited, as per the exchange data.

Individually, SEBI imposed penalties in the range of ₹3 crore to 7 crore on Rana Sugars, its promoters, and other related entities.

“I find that noticee No 1 to 9, who are promoters of RSL and beneficiaries of such diversion of funds from RSL, have violated PFUTP (Prohibition of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices) regulations.”

“…also find that Noticee No 10 (Manoj Gupta), who was CFO and signed and certified such manipulated financial statements of RSL, aided and abetted such diversion of funds from RSL to its promoters and their family members violated PFUTP regulations,” SEBI’s Chief General Manager G. Ramar said in the final order on Tuesday (August 27, 2024.)

The probe revealed that Rana Sugars Limited failed to disclose Laxmiji Sugars Mills Company as a related party in FY 2016-17. Further, the firm failed to disclose FTPL, CAPL, JABPL, RJPL and RGSPL as related parties.

Inder Pratap, Ranjit, Veer Pratap Singh Rana, were persons in charge of and responsible for the affairs of Rana Sugars. Therefore, Rana Sugars, Inder Pratap, Ranjit Singh and Veer Pratap Singh Rana have violated the disclosure rules.

SEBI also noted with respect to the movement of funds between RSL and its related entities was not towards business advance for the purchase of sugar cane seeds and repayment of unsecured loan.

Related parties are Flawless Traders Private Limited (FTPL), Century Agros Private Limited (CAPL), Jay Aar Builders Private Limited (JABPL), RJ Texfab Private Limited (RJPL) and RGS Traders (RGSPL).

“These funds were then transferred by RSL to related parties on the same day to promoters of Rana Sugars and their family members. The regulator found that related parties aided and abetted Rana Sugars, its promoters and directors to divert funds from RSL and violated PFUTP norms,” the order said.

SEBI also directed Rana Sugars to recover ₹607 crore from related entities which includes ₹339 crore in receivables and ₹268 crore in interest dues.

Thereafter, the regulator directed Rana Sugars to take all necessary steps for recovery of dues from these entities and advised them to appoint an independent law firm to take effective steps for recovery in consultation with the NSE.

The markets watchdog also observed that RSL, Inder Pratap Singh Rana, Ranjit Singh, Veer Pratap Singh, Gurjeet Singh, Karan Pratap Singh and Rajbans Kaur have failed to provide any explanation for not appearing before the investigation authority (IA).

Further, they also failed to furnish information/documents sought by the IA, which hampered the investigation process, thereby, violating SEBI norms.

The order came after SEBI investigated the affairs of RSL to examine the diversion of funds from the company by the promoters and promoter-related entities of Rana Sugars, and consequent misstatements in the financial statements of the company.

And whether the alleged diverted funds have been siphoned off by the promoters and promoter-related entities of the firm, resulting in violations of the provisions of PFUTP rules and LODR (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) norms. The investigation period was from financial year (FY) 2014-15 to FY 2020-21.

New Delhi:

Industrialists, political leaders and investors have crticised US short seller Hindenburg Research over its latest allegations targetting the chairperson of market regulator SEBI and Adani Group. The Group has denied any commercial relation with SEBI’s chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch.

A section of political leaders have also accused the Congress of being behind Hindenburg’s move.

“Congress is seeking foreign help to discredit, destabilise our financial markets and to create chaos in the country by attacking independent regulator SEBI and by casting aspersions on the chairman of SEBI,” said Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar.

“The Congress has only one job — spreading anarchy in the country, confuse people and get them to focus on divisive issues,” agreed his cabinet colleague Jyotiraditya Scindia.

Economist Dr Jaijit Bhattacharya questioned the locus standi of Hindenburg. If they are a short-selling entity go ahead within the law, make your money”.

“What is the motivation for coming back and investing money for investigation? Is it an investigatino body? is it sanctioned by some authority? Or is it a journalistic body making suo motu investigations”,” he said.

“It is yellow journalism they are indulging in, because if you go line by line into what they are saying, each line seems to be a baseless allegation,” Mr Bhattacharya added.

Business leader Sandip Ghose said the entire episode appears a “huge conspiracy”. “It is not a question of SEBI stonewalling… If the irregularity was so large, would it not have come out in the Supreme Court inquiry?” he said.  

SEBI’s former Executive Director JN Gupta said the allegations would not affect the market. “When the allegations first came 15-20 months ago, the market took a hit… today Adani shares have recuperated and investors have recouped their losses,” he said.

“There being nothing new against the Adani group,” the US shortseller is targeting SEBI’s chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch, said senior advocate Mahesh Jethmalani. “They went to the Supreme Court, the Supreme Court dismissed it,” he added.

Stock exchanges and brokers, catering to retail traders, could be hit hard by the regulator SEBI’s proposed measures for Futures & Options (F&O) trading regulations, with market volumes slumping 30-40%, according to reports.

If these measures are implemented, the number of investors could decrease, it added.

Moreover, discount brokers, who depend heavily on retail investors, are expected to be more affected than traditional full-service brokers.

SEBI, in its consultation paper in July, proposed seven measures, including increasing minimum contract size and upfront collection of option premiums, intra-day monitoring of position limits, rationalisation of strike prices, removal of calendar spread benefit on expiry day and increase in near contract expiry margin.

SEBI stated that these measures are aimed at enhancing investor protection and promote market stability in derivative markets.

According to a report by Jefferies, Sebi’s proposed measures to reduce the number of weekly option contracts from 18 to 6 could impact around 35 per cent of industry premiums. However, if trading shifts to the remaining contracts, the overall impact can be reduced to 20-25 per cent.

Among its 7 proposed measures, IIFL Securities see the highest impact from the withdrawal of weekly options (only 1 per exchange allowed) as index Options account for 98 per cent of the volumes.

IIFL Securities expects the National Stock Exchange (NSE) to be more affected than the BSE because 60% of NSE’s revenue comes from options trading, compared to 40 per cent for BSE. It estimates that by the financial year 2026, NSE’s earnings could be reduced by 25-30 per cent while BSE’s earnings could drop by 15-18 per cent.

Jefferies also believes that removal of Bankex weekly contract can impact BSE’s earnings per share (EPS) by 7-9% over FY25-27.

It further said that BSE might see a small decline in earnings, but if trading activity shifts from discontinued products, it could offset the impact or even lead to earnings growth.

“We don’t see any impact on MCX from these regulations. Within the value chain, discount brokers are likely to be more impacted than traditional full service brokers given former’s dependence on retail investors,” IIFL Securities said.

Jefferies believes that clearing members like Nuvama, which caters to institutional players High-Frequency Traders (HFTs) and Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) are less impacted.

Rationalizing weekly options to only one benchmark index per exchange will significantly affect the NSE because it currently has four weekly index expiries, with “Bank Nifty” being the most important, contributing to 50% of its options volume. The change could reduce NSE’s overall trading volumes by 30-35%, IIFL Securities said. On the other hand, BSE is expected to be less affected since it only has two contracts, with Sensex making up 85 per cent of its volumes in FY24.

Even if “Bankex” contributes 30% by FY26, the impact on BSE’s volumes is expected to be smaller compared to NSE, it said.

Additionally, with just two expiries, BSE might actually gain market share and experience higher trading volumes, resulting in an estimated 20 per cent reduction in its overall volumes, it added.

Jefferies said that Sebi’s proposed measure of increasing lot sizes by 3-4 times over six months could lead to higher costs for retail traders, potentially reducing their participation in the market.

The proposed margin increase for options sellers close to expiry could reduce leverage and profitability, especially for retail traders with limited funds. “Finally other measures like increasing ELM (extreme loss margin) around expiry, withdrawal of calendar spread margin on expiry will increase the margin requirements and thereby could impact the liquidity. Based on our initial estimates we expect a 30-40 per cent impact on market volume,” IIFL Securities said.

Sebi Chief Madhabi Puri Buch recently mentioned that households are losing up to Rs 60,000 crore a year in the problematic futures and options segment.

Earlier, Sebi research showed retail traders lose money in nine out of 10 trades in the F&O segment Last month, the government in the Union Budget raised the securities transaction tax (STT) on both futures and options trade from October 1 to allay concerns about hyperactive interest in the derivative segment.

Before that, the Economic Survey flagged concerns over rising retail investors’ interest in derivative trading. The survey stated that speculative trade has no place in a developing country.

It also pointed out that the sharp increase in retail investor participation in F&O trading is likely driven by humans’ gambling instincts.

New Delhi:

Sebi on Tuesday barred real estate firm Omaxe, its chairman Rohtas Goel, managing director Mohit Goel and three others from the securities market for two years for irregularities in the company’s financial statements.

The others restrained from the securities markets are — Sudhangshu S. Biswal, Arun Kumar Pandey and Vimal Gupta.

Additionally, these five persons have been “prohibited from holding any position as Director or Key Managerial Person of any other listed company for two years”.

Apart from these, the regulator has levied a fine totalling Rs 47 lakh on 16 entries, including these six entities. The penalties range from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 7 lakh need to be paid within 45 days.

In its 126-page final order, Sebi said these entities have “acted in concert to execute a fraudulent scheme which they tried to portray as normal transactions for the benefit of the company although it was experiencing loss, while also trying to portray that these as merely lending activities, thereby trying to maintain the price of the scrip of Omaxe for three years”.

The company misrepresented the financial statements during 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21 through its various items — revenue, debtors, advances, and expenses.

“By the act of large-scale misrepresentation/misstatement/manipulation in financial statements by Omaxe, the scrip price was directly or indirectly manipulated to maintain the value of the collateral kept by the promoter against the loan,” Sebi noted.

Furthermore, the fraud was never disclosed to the shareholders of Omaxe, which misled them to remain invested in its shares or deal in its securities. Also, misrepresentation of the books and accounts of Omaxe misled the investors in the securities market, it added.

Accordingly, Sebi has barred six entities including Omaxe, Rohtas Goel, Mohit Goe and three others from “accessing the securities market and further prohibited from buying, selling or otherwise dealing in securities, directly or indirectly, or being associated with the securities market in any manner, whatsoever, for two years”.

The order came after the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) received a complaint against Omaxe alleging that the company conducted fraudulent transactions, diverted/siphoned funds, misrepresented the financial statements, and inflated turnover among others.

As these allegations were serious, the matter was taken up for further examination by Sebi including conducting a forensic audit into the affairs of Omaxe. The investigation period in the matter was taken from April 1, 2018, to March 31, 2021, which includes FY 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

SEBI’s SEVA chatbot will answer questions relating to the securities markets, latest master circulars and the grievance redressal process. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

For investor protection, the Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has started its Virtual Assistant (SEVA) – an Artificial Intelligence (AI) based conversation platform for investors. 

The Beta version of the chatbot includes features like citations for generated response, speech-to-text and text-to-speech functionality for accessibility and follow-up questions.

The chatbot is currently enabled to answer questions relating to general information on securities market, latest master circulars and grievance redressal process. Based on the feedback received from the users, additional areas will be added to the chatbot, the SEBI said in a statement.

The beta version of the chatbot is available on SEBI’s investor website and SAARTHI mobile app (both Android and iOS).