Leading stock exchange NSE's board has given its approval to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to prosecute its former MD and CEO Chitra Ramkrishna in the co-location scam case, sources said on Monday. The CBI was awaiting the go-ahead of the board of National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) to prosecute Ramkrishna following her arrest in March last year. She was arrested in the co-location scam nearly four years after an FIR was registered by the agency in May 2018.
A Delhi court on Monday sent to 14-day judicial custody the former managing director and chief executive officer of National Stock Exchange Chitra Ramkrishna in connection with the co-location scam case.
The Delhi high court on Thursday granted bail to Chitra Ramkrishna in the money laundering case related to alleged illegal phone tapping and snooping of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) employees, saying prima facie there are reasonable grounds to believe she is not guilty. Justice Jasmeet Singh granted bail to the former NSE managing director on a personal bond of Rs one lakh and two sureties of the like amount. "Prima facie there are reasonable grounds to believe that the applicant is not guilty of the offence and she is not likely to commit any offence while on bail...the application is allowed and the applicant is granted bail," the court said.
The Delhi high court on Wednesday granted bail to former National Stock Exchange (NSE) head Chitra Ramkrishna and ex group operating officer Anand Subramanian in the co-location scam case being probed by the CBI. Justice Sudhir Kumar Jain said he was granting "statutory bail" to the two former officials of the NSE. A detailed copy of the order is awaited.
Ramkrishna is in the news after a recent Sebi order said she was steered by a yogi, dwelling in the Himalayan ranges, in the appointment of Anand Subramanian as the exchange's group operating officer and advisor to the managing director (MD).
The CBI on Friday questioned former CEO of National Stock Exchange (NSE) Chitra Ramkrishna in view of fresh facts emerging in connection with its ongoing probe into the alleged abuse of co-location facility in the NSE, officials said. The agency has also opened look out circulars against Ramkrishna, another former CEO Ravi Narain and former COO Anand Subramanian to prevent them from leaving the country. The central probe agency had booked a owner and promoter of Delhi-based OPG Securities Pvt. Ltd, Sanjay Gupta and other in connection with alleged abuse of NSE co-location facility to make gains by getting early access to the stock market, they said.
Capital markets regulator Sebi on Tuesday sent a notice to NSE's former chief Chitra Ramkrishna asking her to pay Rs 3.12 crore in a case related to governance lapses at the stock exchange, and warned of arrest and attachment of assets and bank accounts if she fails to make the payment within 15 days. The notice came after Ramkrishna failed to pay the fine imposed on her by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). In an order dated February 11, Sebi had slapped a penalty of Rs 3 crore on Ramkrishna for alleged governance lapses in a case related to the appointment of Anand Subramanian as the Group Operating Officer and Advisor when she was at the helm of NSE as its managing director and chief executive officer, as well as for sharing confidential information of the company with an unidentified person.
The Enforcement Directorate has recently recorded the statement of former NSE managing director and chief executive officer Chitra Ramkrishna, lodged inside Delhi's Tihar jail, as part of a money laundering investigation against her and others, officials said Tuesday. The proceedings for recording the statement were conducted on two occasions inside the jail. The statement has been recorded under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), they said. Ramkrishna is lodged in the Tihar jail after she was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on March 6 in the alleged National Stock Exchange (NSE) co-location scam case and investigation linked to other governance irregularities at the bourse.
The CBI arrested former National Stock Exchange CEO Chitra Ramkrishna in the co-location scam case on Sunday, officials said. Ramkrishna was arrested in Delhi and taken for medical checkup, they said. She was later lodged in lockup at the CBI headquarters, they said.
The Delhi high court on Friday sought response from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on the bail plea by former managing director and chief executive officer of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) Chitra Ramkrishna in connection with the co-location case. Justice Sudhir Kumar Jain issued notice on the bail application and listed the case for further hearing on May 31. The trial court had dismissed the bail plea of the former NSE boss on May 12 and said that no ground for bail was made out at this stage.
Former NSE managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO) Chitra Ramkrishna and group operating officer and her advisor Anand Subramanian ran a 'money-making scheme' during their stint at the National Stock Exchange (NSE), markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has alleged. The order passed by Sebi dated February 11 highlights frequent increase in the compensation package of without proper appraisal, documentation or file notings, and the involvement of the human resource (HR) head or the nomination and remuneration committee. Furthermore, the order talks about Subramanian being directed to "withdraw and surrender" to the unknown person a gross amount per month as "gratitude".
Ramkrishna's exit comes at a time when NSE has been in focus over a new regulatory framework for high frequency trades and co-location facilities, which some believe give undue advantage to some brokers and traders
'This issue is related to national security because they were compromising the entire capital markets's core infrastructure by leaking confidential information.' 'What would have happened if the servers had come down?' 'Or some confidential information leaked to terrorists who could have knocked out our capital market?'
'She violated NSE procedures and rules, corporate governance norms; Chitra acted maybe within her capacity as MD and CEO, but not in the right spirit.'
The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday arrested former NSE CEO and MD Ravi Narain in a money laundering case, officials said. His role is being investigated by the federal probe agency as part of two criminal cases linked to the bourse - the alleged co-location 'scam' case and the purported illegal phone tapping of employees. Narain is understood to have been arrested in the tapping case under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
In its closure report submitted before a special CBI court New Delhi, the agency is understood to have said it did not find enough evidence to prosecute the accused.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Monday produced former managing director and chief executive officer of National Stock Exchange (NSE) Chitra Ramkrishna before a Delhi court in connection with the NSE co-location case. The probe agency produced the accused before special Special Judge Sanjeev Aggarwal and sought 14-day custodial interrogation in the case. The CBI arrested the accused on Sunday after her anticipatory bail application was dismissed by the court on Saturday. The CBI had recently questioned Ramkrishna in the matter.
The Enforcement Directorate has filed a money laundering complaint against ex-Mumbai Police Commissioner Sanjay Pandey and former NSE top bosses Chitra Ramkrishna and Ravi Narain in connection with the illegal phone tapping and snooping case of employees of the stock exchange, officials said Thursday. The federal probe agency filed the case under criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), a week after the CBI booked them.
Leading stock exchange NSE, which is facing allegations of governance lapses, has started the hunt for a new managing director and chief executive officer as the five-year tenure of incumbent chief Vikram Limaye is ending in July. The exchange has invited applications from candidates having IPO (initial public offering) experience for the role of the top post before March 25, according to a public notice issued on Friday. Limaye is eligible for another term. However, as per Sebi's rule, the incumbent needs to compete with other candidates to win the next term.
The Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) on Thursday quashed the markets regulator Sebi's order imposing a fine of Rs 7 crore on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) in the dark-fibre case. Additionally, the tribunal has set aside a fine of Rs 5 crore levied by Sebi on the exchange's former official Anand Subramanian. Further, it has partly set aside the regulator's order against former MD and CEO of NSE Chitra Ramkrishna, ex-official Ravi Varanasi and a few stock brokers, among others.
The Enforcement Directorate on Friday conducted multiple raids in connection with its money laundering probe into the alleged irregularities in the National Stock Exchange (NSE) co-location case, officials said. The central probe agency is covering nine premises in Delhi and neighbouring Gurugram including those of some brokers involved in the case, they said. The raids are being carried out under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The CBI action comes following a complaint from the Union home ministry.
A Delhi court on Tuesday sent former Mumbai Police Commissioner Sanjay Pandey to judicial custody till August 16 in a money laundering case related to alleged illegal phone tapping and snooping of national stock exchange (NSE) employees.
The rot is is not limited to Chitra Ramkrishna and the yogi, observed Debashis Basu.
The CBI has arrested Sanjay Gupta, owner and promoter of Delhi based OPG Securities Pvt. Ltd, in connection with the NSE co-location scam in which brokers allegedly abused the facility to make gains by getting early access to the stock market, officials said on Wednesday. The agency has already arrested Chitra Ramkrishna, former CEO and managing director of NSE and Anand Subramanian, former group operating officer of the market, they said. Gupta was arrested on Tuesday night, four years after the agency had registered the FIR in the Co-location scam case against him and his company.
A Delhi court on Wednesday sent former MD and CEO of National Stock Exchange Ravi Narain to two days' custodial interrogation by Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case related to alleged illegal phone tapping and snooping on stock exchange employees. Special Judge Sunena Sharma allowed ED's plea seeking Narain's custody till September 9 after the accused was produced before him by the probe agency. ED's Special Public Prosecutor N K Matta told the court that Narain was required to be confronted with other accused persons and evidence in the matter to unearth the larger conspiracy in the matter.
Capital markets regulator Sebi on Thursday sent a notice to NSE's former chief Ravi Narain, asking him to pay Rs 2.06 crore in a case related to governance lapses at the stock exchange, and warned of arrest and attachment of assets and bank accounts if he fails to make the payment within 15 days. The notice came after Narain failed to pay the fine imposed on him by SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India). The regulator, through an order passed on February 11, levied a fine of Rs 2 crore on Narain in the matter of governance issues over the appointment of the chief strategic officer at the stock exchange in 2013.
The Delhi high court on Thursday granted bail to former Mumbai police commissioner Sanjay Pandey in connection with a money-laundering case related to alleged illegal phone-tapping and snooping of National Stock Exchange (NSE) employees.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is mulling changes to the 'fit & proper' criteria for market infrastructure institutions (MIIs), such as stock exchanges, in a bid to segregate the role of an individual from the entity, said sources. Under the current framework, wrongdoing by senior personnel could lead to a debarment of the MIIs such as stock exchanges, depository participants and clearing members-with quite a few such instances in the past. Additionally, Sebi is also mulling to introduce a clause through which any order passed against an MII will not affect their operations, unless it is specifically mentioned so in the order.
The Supreme Court on Monday refused to interfere with the Delhi high court verdict granting bail to former Mumbai Police Commissioner Sanjay Pandey in a money laundering case related to alleged illegal phone tapping and snooping of National Stock Exchange (NSE) employees.
Capital markets regulator Sebi on Thursday imposed penalties totalling Rs 11 crore on 8 entities, including National Stock Exchange (NSE) and its former chiefs Chitra Ramkrishna and Ravi Narain, in a case pertaining to software related to algorithmic trading. The regulator has levied a fine of Rs 1 crore each on NSE, Ramkrishna and Narain. Also, a fine of Rs 1 crore has been imposed on Suprabhat Lal, who was a NSE official at the time of violation.
The Enforcement Directorate's (ED's) chargesheet in the National Stock Exchange (NSE) illegal phone-tapping case points to insider trading during the tenures of Chitra Ramkrishna and Ravi Narain as managing director and chief executive officer of the bourse. The federal agency will soon be sharing the details with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for further inquiry, two people aware of the findings told Business Standard. The ED, which filed its prosecution complaint (commonly known as chargesheet), alleged that Narain and Ramkrishna were the "key conspirators" and had assisted iSec Services to generate money to the tune of Rs 24 crore for exchanging crucial information, the people said.
A Delhi court on Thursday dismissed the bail application of former Mumbai Police Commissioner Sanjay Pandey in a money laundering case related to alleged illegal phone tapping and snooping of national stock exchange (NSE) employees. Special Judge Sunena Sharma said the material available prima face showed Pandey was actively involved in the execution of recording and monitoring of calls at the NSE, and was directly communicating with the bourse staff as well as those of the iSec, the company he founded and which was responsible for the cyber security audit of the NSE. The judge noted the material collected by the investigating officer "prima face" showed the retired IPS officer was in de facto control of the affairs of iSec even after 2006, when he resigned as a director, and kept attending the meetings with NSE officials.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday arrested former Mumbai police commissioner Sanjay Pandey in connection with a money laundering case linked to the alleged illegal phone tapping of NSE employees, officials said.
In May 2019, Sebi had penalised the NSE as well as two of its former heads - Narain and Chitra Ramkrishna - for allowing Sampark to provide the dark fibre connectivity to stock brokers, despite not having the authorised licence. Dark fibre refers to an unused optical fibre used for high-speed connectivity.
It is the biggest issue we have ever faced in the securities market, where a sensitive and systemically important institution and first-line regulator was not only exploited by unscrupulous elements but functioned like a private fief, points out Debashis Basu.
'NSE has thousands of employees. It is their institution. So it's a dear family.' 'One should not hurt the morale of these people.'
Hitting back at former prime minister Manmohan Singh for his criticism of the Modi government's handling of the economy, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said he is more remembered for having brought India to "fragile five" and rampant inflation during his term.
The National Stock Exchange (NSE), which is once again in the eye of a storm due to the co-location scandal, has said it has taken several transformational steps in the past few years on the regulatory, technological, and surveillance fronts to help improve stakeholder experience and to protect investors. Senior officials of the exchange briefed the media over the steps the exchange has taken on various fronts following changes at the helm with former managing director and chief executive officer Chitra Ramkrishna's ouster in December 2016. "Over the last few years, we have been looking to modernise and transform the entire value chain of technology.
In all this, the political establishment -- and especially the finance ministry -- appears the weakest link, and worse still, the possible reason for the political backing to Narain and Ramkrishna that emboldened them to defy all the sentinels -- the independent board, the auditors, top management persons like the chief compliance officer, the company secretary, and unbelievably the super-regulator Sebi, observes V Ranganathan.