Financial companies violate norms; SEBI slaps fine

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) levied fine on Roselabs Finance, Karvy Financial Services and Sri Navdurga Billets Pvt Ltd in separate orders for failing to comply with certain rules and regulations.

Roselabs Finance had allegedly conducted fraudulent trading in the scrip of Gujarat Arth Limited between 2003 and 2004. SEBI investigated the scrip recently, and on Monday, imposed a fine of Rs 2,53,72,500 on the company for the Prohibition of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices (PFUTP).

The regulator of the securities market, SEBI found out that the company offloaded shares in the market through off-market transfer, which created artificial volume, impacted the price of the scrip, and thus, defrauded the investors. Further, according to SEBI, no official announcement was made in this regard by the company and the latter also failed to present disclosures as per the market norms.

Meanwhile, in a separate order, SEBI also levied a fine of Rs 7.2 lakh on Sri Navdurga Billets Pvt Ltd for indulging in fraudulent trading in the illiquid stock options segment on the BSE and Rs 5 lakh fine on Karvy Financial Services Ltd for making requisite disclosures after a delay of nearly 7 years. SEBI thus imposed monetary penalty on Karvy Financial Services for violating Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeovers (SAST) norms and Prohibition of Insider Trading (PIT) regulations.

At 10.27 am, Roselabs Finance Ltd was trading at Rs 13.97, down by 4.97 per cent, while Karvy Financial Services Ltd was trading at Rs 1,10,998.00, up by 0.25 per cent.