SECURITIES LAW
SEBI Imposes ₹99 Lakh Penalty On Mediaone Global For Fund Diversion And Financial Manipulation
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on 27 February imposed a penalty of Rs. 99 lakh on Mediaone Global Entertainment Ltd. and its key directors for diversion of funds, round-tripping, and large-scale manipulation of financial statements. The order was passed by SEBI's Chief General Manager N. Murugan, who held that the company had engaged in falsification of accounts and dissemination of misleading financial information to investors, warranting monetary penalties. He wrote: “The...
SEBI Cautions Against Fraudsters Offering To Manage Trading Accounts For Profit Share
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has issued a press release warning investors against stock market scams carried out through “account handling” services.SEBI stated that certain individuals, portraying themselves as experts, are offering account handling services to help investors invest in the securities market. These persons claim to generate risk free profits in investors' trading accounts. They typically specify a minimum capital requirement and charge a percentage share of...
SEBI Warns Public Against Fake STT Notices Seeking Outstanding Payments
The Securities and Exchange Board of India on Thursday issued a press release warning the public against fake Securities Transaction Tax notices.SEBI stated that fraudsters are circulating fake notices falsely claiming to have been issued under the SEBI Act, 1992, seeking compliance with STT under the Finance Act, 2004. According to SEBI, these fake notices use forged SEBI letterheads and request for payments for outstanding STT amounts. The regulator said that no such notices have been issued...
CRB Mutual Fund Case: Supreme Court Rejects Former Director's Plea Against Forensic Audit Order
The Supreme Court recently refused to interfere with a Delhi High Court order directing a forensic audit and SEBI supervision of the winding up of the CRB Mutual Fund, dismissing a special leave petition filed by C.R. Bhansali, a former director of CRB Capital Markets Ltd., in the long-running proceedings arising from securities and mutual fund irregularities of the 1990s. A bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and K.V. Viswanathan said: “Having heard the learned counsel appearing for the parties...
SEBI Drops LBMA Benchmark, Mandates Exchange Spot Prices For Gold And Silver Fund Valuation
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on Thursday issued a circular revising the valuation norms for physical gold and silver held by mutual fund schemes.Under the existing regulatory framework, physical gold and silver held by Gold and Silver Exchange Traded Funds are valued at the AM fixing prices of the London Bullion Market Association. The final valuation is arrived at after adjusting the LBMA prices for necessary metric and currency conversions, transportation costs, customs...
SEBI Directs Regulated Entities To Disclose Registration Numbers On Social Media Posts
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on Thursday issued a circular directing all persons regulated by the Board and their agents to prominently disclose their registered name and registration number on social media platforms when posting content related to the securities market. “With the rapid increase in the use and acceptance of social media, a need is felt to distinguish contents related to securities market uploaded/posted by the persons regulated by the Board (hereafter...
SAT Upholds ₹5 Lakh Penalty on Som Distilleries for Misleading Disclosure On ₹100 Crore Fund Raise
The Securities Appellate Tribunal has recently upheld a Rs 5 lakh penalty on Som Distilleries & Breweries Ltd, holding that the company failed to clearly inform investors that it had dropped a proposed Rs 100 crore preferential issue after initially citing “unforeseen circumstances” for cancelling a shareholders' meeting.A bench of Presiding Officer Justice P.S. Dinesh Kumar, Technical Member Meera Swarup and Technical Member Dr. Dheeraj Bhatnagar dismissed the company's appeal against...
SEBI Revises Mutual Fund Scheme Categorisation Norms, Introduces Life Cycle Funds
Today, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) revised the regulatory framework for the rationalisation and categorisation of mutual fund schemes. The circular supersedes Clause 2.6 of the Master Circular for Mutual Funds dated 27 June 2024. A key change is the introduction of Life Cycle Funds as a distinct scheme category. These are open-ended, goal-based funds with a pre-determined maturity, following a glide path investment strategy across equity, debt, InvITs, ETCDs, and gold and...
SEBI Disposes Proceedings Against Kalyani Steels, BF Utilities In ₹4.12 Crore Settlement
The Securities and Exchange Board of India has recently passed a settlement order disposing of adjudication proceedings initiated against Kalyani Steels Limited, BF Utilities Limited, and Deepti R Puranik, former Compliance Officer.The proceedings arose from an examination report of National Stock Exchange highlighting suspicious investment patterns within certain Kalyani Group companies. NSE observed that three listed companies of Kalyani group had made investments in promoter group companies...
SEBI Holds VCF Cannot Continue Beyond Tenure, Imposes ₹20 Lakh Penalty On Forum Synergies
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) by an order dated February 23, imposed a monetary penalty of Rs. 20 lakhs on Forum Synergies India Trust, its Investment Manager and Trustee in connection with India Knowledge Manufacturing Fund-I, for failure to initiate winding up of the scheme upon expiry of its stipulated tenure, in violation of Regulation 23(1)(a) of the SEBI (Venture Capital Funds) Regulations, 1996. Adjudicating Officer Jai Sebastian, held that a venture capital fund...
Assured Returns: SEBI Suspends Sai Proficient Research's Investment Adviser Registration For One Year
The Securities and Exchange Board of India has suspended the certificate of registration of Sai Proficient Research Investment Advisory, proprietorship of Meeshika Vishwakarma, for one year after finding that it promised assured returns to clients in violation of securities market norms.SEBI's Whole Time Member Amarjeet Singh passed the order in proceedings initiated against Vishwakarma, who is registered with SEBI as an Investment Adviser, pursuant to complaints alleging violations of...