The National Stock Exchange (NSE) has made a fresh attempt at settling a regulatory investigation into the misuse of Trading Access Point (TAP) software at the bourse. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) rejected a similar application in 2022. "NSE and its employees have filed a consolidated settlement application dated May 4, 2023, with Sebi.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has for the first time proposed to regulate online platforms offering fractional ownership in real estate, a model already popular in countries like the United States and UAE. In a consultation paper floated recently, the capital markets regulator stated that such fractional ownership of real estate assets was proposed to be brought as MSM (micro, small, medium) REITs under Sebi (Real Estate Investment Trusts) Regulations. This model allows investors to own a fraction or a small share in a real estate asset like buildings and office spaces, which could include warehouses, shopping centres, conference centres.
Brokers have requested for a three-month extension from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) for the validation of Know Your Client (KYC) records. In a letter to Sebi, industry body -- Association of National Exchanges Members of India (Anmi) -- has cited various issues and concerns raised by its members that have hampered the smooth completion of the validation process within the stipulated timeline. The Sebi circular had given KYC Registration Agencies (KRAs) a timeline of 180 days, ending on April 30, 2023, to validate client KYCs.
The merger of ZEE Entertainment and Sony has reached an advanced stage of completion, and the issues faced by promoters with Sebi should not become a problem for the company, debarred ZEEL MD Punit Goenka has said in a letter to employees, according to sources. Goenka, who along with his father Subhas Chandra, was denied any interim relief against a Sebi order that barred them from holding the position of director or key managerial post in any listed company, in the letter ZEE Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) staff asserted that the merger of Culver Max (earlier known as Sony Pictures Networks India) is at a very important juncture. With the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) restricting him from holding a directorial or key managerial position in a listed company, Goenka told the employees that the ZEEL board has constituted an interim committee of senior executives to ensure smooth operations and day-to-day functioning.
The National Stock Exchange (NSE) has withdrawn its decision to change the expiry day for Bank Nifty derivatives contracts from Thursday to Friday. The move follows a "request" from the BSE, which settles its Sensex and Bankex derivatives contracts on Friday. The proposed change in Bank Nifty settlement was scheduled to be effective from July 6 with the first weekly expiry on July 14.
The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered setting up of a six-member committee headed by former apex court judge Justice A M Sapre to investigate the recent Adani group shares crash triggered by the Hindenburg Research's fraud allegations and other regulatory aspects related to stock markets.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has proposed new regulations to deal with suspicious trading activities-a move that will empower the market watchdog to go after entities making unusual profits without any fundamental basis. The regulator has issued a discussion paper, inviting feedback on the draft of the Sebi (Prohibition of Unexplained Suspicious Trading Activities in the Securities Market) Regulations, 2023, which are aimed at curbing front-running, use of mule accounts, pump and dump schemes, and misuse of social media influencers. Currently, Sebi's Prohibition of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices (PFUTP) and Prohibition of Insider Trading (PIT) Regulations deal with such activities.
Sebi on Wednesday approved measures to strengthen the framework for Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs), including having an independent valuation of their investments and introducing a comprehensive certification requirement for key investment teams of AIF managers. To improve governance and transparency to investors with respect to transactions involving conflict of interest, the regulator also approved that there should be a mandate for obtaining approval of 75 per cent of investors by value for buying or selling of investments potentially involving conflict of interest. The proposals pertaining to valuation of investments, dematerialisation of units, certification requirement for key employees of investment manager, transactions with associates and option to sell unliquidated investments to a new scheme of AIFs were approved by the Sebi's board on Wednesday.
The Supreme Court on Friday said there should be a robust mechanism to ensure that the interests of Indian investors are protected in the stock market and sought views of the Centre and market regulator SEBI on PILs alleging exploitation of innocent investors and "artificial crashing" of the Adani group's stock value.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is in the process of issuing a standard operating procedure (SOP) for designated depository participants (DDPs) regarding disclosures and onboarding of foreign portfolio investors (FPIs), according to a regulatory document seen by Business Standard. DDPs act as a link between the markets regulator and overseas investors. The SOP, framed in consultation with the industry, aims to bring consistency across all players and avoid any form of regulatory arbitrage.
Two Reliance group firms - Reliance Consumer Products Ltd (RCPL) and Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd (RRVL) - have announced an open offer to acquire a 26 per cent additional stake in Lotus Chocolate. The firms will together acquire 33.38 lakh shares of Lotus Chocolate from the open market at a fixed price of Rs 115.50 per share, said a notice by DAM Capital, which is managing the offer. The offer will aggregate to a total consideration of Rs 38.56 crore over the full acceptance, said an open offer-detailed public statement shared by the company with stock exchanges on Thursday.
A mass fan following or a large number of views on a YouTube channel can't possibly constitute 'credentials'.
The Centre has no objection to a proposal for setting up a panel of domain experts to look into strengthening the regulatory mechanisms for the stock market, the Supreme Court was told on Monday while it was hearing pleas relating to the Adani stocks rout after the Hindenburg report.
Existing mutual fund investors have time till March 31 to nominate a beneficiary or opt out of it by submitting a declaration form, failing which their folios will be frozen, and they will not be able to redeem investment. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), in its circular on June 15, 2022, made it mandatory for mutual fund subscribers to submit the nomination details or declaration to opt out of the nomination on or after August 1, 2022. Later, the deadline was extended to October 1, 2022.
In its reply to the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT), the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said urgent action was warranted against the promoters of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL) in the alleged fund diversion case to safeguard the management and protect investors and other stakeholders. It termed the applications made by Essel Group Chairman Subhash Chandra and ZEEL managing director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Punit Goenka as "completely false and misleading" in its response submitted to SAT on June 17. "We have a situation before us where the chairman emeritus and the MD and CEO of this large listed company are involved in a myriad of different schemes and transactions through which vast amounts of public money belonging to listed companies are diverted to private entities owned and controlled by these persons.
India Inc is staring at significantly higher compliance and governance costs, following the Securities and Exchange Board of India's (Sebi's) latest tightening of disclosure norms and regulations around the filling of key positions, the materiality of information, and third-party transfers. Recently, the securities market regulator amended the Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements (LODR) to introduce a raft of changes that will affect how listed companies go about transparency and disclosures. The new framework will further empower public shareholders and soon move towards a 'comply or be penalised regime or comply or explain' in the case of high-value debt-listed entities.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Tuesday imposed a penalty of Rs 26 crore on Coffee Day Enterprises (CDEL) for alleged violation of securities laws. The regulator also directed the company to initiate steps to recover dues of Rs 3,535 crore-the amount diverted from seven subsidiaries of CDEL to Mysore Amalgamated Coffee Estates (MACEL). Affirming the violations of the Sebi (Prevention of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices) Regulations and Sebi (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, whole-time member Ashwani Bhatia said the listed company was being run like a personal fiefdom with no checks and balances in place.
Hindenburg Research has alleged that Adani Group was "engaged in a brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud", a charge the conglomerate described as malicious, unsubstantiated, one-sided, and having done with malafide intention to ruin its share-sale.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has notified stricter timelines of just seven working days for foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) to disclose vital information. This could include informing their custodians about any false or misleading information about the fund or disclosing any change in structure or common ownership, or control of the investor group. The new changes have been brought into effect from March 14 through a notification amending the Sebi (FPIs) Regulations.
Markets regulator Sebi has simplified the procedural requirements for onboarding of Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) in a bid to facilitate ease of doing business and to reduce the time taken for their registration. The regulator allowed designated depository participants (DDPs) to grant FPI registration on the basis of scanned copies of application forms and supporting documents, according to a circular issued on Monday. Granting of registration on the basis of scanned copies has been allowed but trading can only be activated following the verification of the physical documents, it said.
In a stock exchange filing, Adani Enterprises Ltd said VCPL has urged SEBI "to provide its observations on the draft letter of offer filed in relation to the open offer, in accordance with the SEBI (SAST) Regulations."
Food delivery firm Zomato Ltd said on Wednesday most stores of its grocery unit Blinkit had resumed operations after being shut following protests by delivery partners. "Over the last few days we have made changes in the delivery partner payout structure with respect to the Blinkit business to address the needs of delivery partners, improve customer experience and reduce cancellation/ order rejection frauds by few delivery partners in the system. "Such changes are done from time to time, as needed," said the company in a letter to the BSE.
The SEBI and the RBI will look into it. Let their reports come in, BJP MP Mahesh Jethmalani said.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India's (Sebi's) investigation into the Hindenburg allegations is making slow progress when it comes to obtaining information from overseas regulators, particularly around ultimate beneficial ownerships of certain foreign portfolio investors (FPIs), said people in the know. "Establishing ultimate beneficial ownerships for FPIs is a very complex exercise. "Several jurisdictions allow omnibus structures where the end beneficiaries are not required to be captured or are based in some other geographies.
Former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan has asked why SEBI has not yet got to the bottom of ownership of the four Mauritius-based funds who are said to have parked 90 per cent of their $6.9 billion in Adani group stocks, saying does the market regulator need help of investigating agencies for this? The funds -- Elara India Opportunities Fund, Cresta Fund, Albula Investment Fund and APMS Investment Fund -- have been under cloud for last couple of years after allegations that they may be shell companies. They came into focus once again in January when a US short seller alleged that Adani Group used offshore shell companies to inflate stock price.
Sebi on Wednesday ordered the attachment of bank and demat accounts of Sahara Group chief Subrata Roy and three others to recover Rs 6.48 crore for violating regulatory norms by two group companies. The recovery proceedings have been initiated against these four persons for violating regulatory norms in the issuance of optionally fully convertible debentures (OFCDs) by two group companies. Apart from Sahara, others whose bank and demat accounts were attached are Ashok Roy Choudhary, Ravi Shanker Dubey and Vandana Bharrgava.
Adani group on Friday rejected NDTV's assertion that Sebi approval is necessary to acquire interests in RRPR, saying the promoter entity is not a part of the regulator's order that restrained Prannoy and Radhika Roy from accessing the securities market. Terming the contentions raised by RRPR as "baseless, legally untenable and devoid of merit", Vishvapradhan Commercial Private Ltd (VCPL) said the holding firm is "bound to immediately perform its obligation and allot the equity shares" as specified in the Warrant Exercise Notice. In a regulatory update, Adani Enterprises Ltd said VCPL has received a reply on behalf of NDTV and RRPR over the Warrant Exercise Notice dated August 23, 2022.
Battling a hostile takeover bid, NDTV's promoter entity RRPR Holding Ltd has sought clarity from Sebi on whether its earlier order bars the conversion of warrants issued to VCPL, now owned by the Adani group. Passing an order on November 27, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has restrained NDTV founders Radhika and Prannoy Roy to access the securities market for a period of 2 years. As restrictions are still in force, hence a prior written approval from Sebi was required for Vishvapradhan Commercial Private Limited (VCPL) for the exercise of the conversion option on the warrants, NDTV founders had said.
Influenced by ads like 'Make money sitting at home', 'Make Rs 10 lakh with just Rs 1,000', to YouTube influencers promoting 'pump-and-dump' stocks, a vast majority of small investors who mushroomed during the COVID-19 period are losing money in reckless overtrading in the market, cautions Dr V K Vijaykumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is discussing with mutual funds (MFs) a proposal on introducing new total expense ratio (TER) slabs linked to the total equity and debt assets by replacing the current ones that are linked to assets of an individual scheme. Senior MF executives confirmed that Sebi had held discussions on this matter with AMCs. Such a change is expected to lead to a lower TER cap for bigger asset management companies (AMCs).
The Supreme Court on Friday refused to accept in a sealed cover the Centre's suggestion on a proposed panel of experts for strengthening regulatory measures for stock markets in the wake of the recent Adani group shares crash triggered by Hindenburg Research's fraud allegations.
It was alleged in an audit that Subramanian was the Yogi, but Sebi dismissed that claim in its final report on February 11.
Without naming Adani group specifically, the capital markets watchdog said in a statement that unusual price movement in the stocks of a business conglomerate has been observed in the past week.
India's economic image is not affected due to Adani Group's recent decision to pull out Rs 20,000 crore FPO (follow-on public offers) amid allegations of financial wrongdoings, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Saturday.
Leaders of several opposition parties were stopped by the police at Vijay Chowk in New Delhi as they took out a protest march from Parliament House to hand over a complaint to the Enforcement Directorate on the Adani issue.
With Sebi telling the Supreme Court that it was not investigating the Adani group since 2016, the Congress on Monday cited a Union minister's reply in the Lok Sabha to challenge the claim and asked whether Parliament was misled or the market regulator was "fast asleep" as investors were "duped".
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has plans to give a fillip to disclosure requirements to encourage better information symmetry at listed firms. Under the current regulations, companies need to disclose any event such as acquisition, merger, demerger, restructuring, or sale of any unit which will have an impact on the business. In its consultation paper dated November 12, Sebi has proposed new thresholds for so-called 'material disclosures'.
Capital markets regulator Sebi on Tuesday barred five brokerage houses for up to six months from making fresh applications seeking registration as commodity brokers as they failed to meet 'fit and proper' criteria in the NSEL case. The affected brokerage houses include India Infoline Commodities, Anand Rathi Commodities and Geofin Comtrade (banned for 6 months each), and Phillip Commodities and Motilal Oswal Commodities Broker (for 3 months each). "There were enough red flags for a reasonable person to come to conclude that what was being offered as paired contracts on NSEL were not spot contract in commodities," Sebi said in five separate orders.
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.
News broadcaster New Delhi Television Ltd's (NDTV's) promoter firm RRPR Holding said on Monday that it had transferred shares constituting 99.5 per cent of its equity capital to Adani group-owned Vishvapradhan Commercial (VCPL). The transaction was done on Monday, RRPR Holding said in a disclosure to the stock exchanges, in consonance with a conversion notice, dated August 23, 2022, issued by VCPL. This follows the expiry of the two-year restraint imposed by the Securities & Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on November 26, it said.