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Sebi asks banks to report exposures to Parekh firms

BS Banking Bureau

The Securities and Exchange Board of India on Monday asked banks to immediately report their exposures to the 16 Ketan Parekh firms. This is one of the rare instances when the capital market watchdog has sought information from banks.

At least four banks have confirmed that they have received the Sebi directive and got back to the capital market regulator on Monday itself even as the regulator's senior executive director (investigations) LK Singhvi said he has not sought such information. It is not known whether Sebi sent the directive to all banks or a few select ones.

The list of 16 firms includes Naksahtra Software Pvt Ltd, Panther Invetrade, Panther Fincap & Management Ltd, Classic Credit Ltd, Classic Share & Stock Broking Pvt Ltd, Triumph International Finance, Triumph Securities, Sai Mengal and a few other Parekh outfits. "We were asked to report to Sebi whether we have any exposure in these firms," said a senior banker.

According to sources, under Section 11(D) of the Sebi Act, its board is empowered to call for information from financial intermediaries about their investments. "The securities market watchdog is gathering information as part of its market investigation. It is also expected to submit a report to the government on the development when Parliament reopens next week," sources said.

Earlier, the Reserve Bank of India had asked all banks to report their Parekh exposure along with their exposure to capital market as well as co-operative banks through overnight call lending.

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