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Ministry of Finance asks Sebi to extend trading probe

The Ministry of Finance (MoF) has asked the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to investigate allegations of insider trading in Himachal Futuristic Communications and Zee Telefilms, a major domestic financial daily said on Monday.

The newspaper, in an unsourced report, also said the ministry, in a letter marked "most immediate", had asked the market watchdog to investigate "the involvement, if any, of the Unit Trust of India (UTI)", the nation's largest mutual fund.

It said UTI owns a 10-15 per cent stake in Himachal Futuristic Communications (HFC), a telecommunications equipment maker. It did not give a figure for UTI's current stake in Zee Telefilms, the operator of India's largest private television network.

Both HFC and Zee were among the major stock holdings of Ketan Parekh, a major broker arrested on Friday for alleged fraud. The Bombay Stock exchange benchmark index fell almost four percent on Friday in anticipation of Parekh's arrest.

UTI Bank, a private bank founded by UTI, figures prominently in a separate investigation.

Sebi is investigating allegations of insider trading in the shares of Global Trust Bank

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