PTI New Delhi

Sebi on Tuesday levied a fine of Rs 10 lakh on an entity for trading in the shares of HDFC Ltd and HDFC Bank while in possession of unpublished price sensitive information (UPSI) related to their merger.

Sebi found that Rupesh Satish Dalal HUF had traded in derivatives of both HDFC entities on April 1, 2022 -- just days before the official announcement of the merger between HDFC Ltd and HDFC Bank on April 4, 2022. Rupesh Satish Dalal is the karta of Rupesh Satish Dalal HUF. The regulator's probe revealed that Dalal had received UPSI through his son, who was in close and regular contact with a person (individual) who was an insider associated with Deloitte. Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India LLP was engaged as the valuer for the merger exercise and the individual was part of the valuation team from March 29, 2022.

The individual and Dalal's son were long-time friends and exchanged several calls in the run-up to the trades. Sebi also noted that a meeting between the two took place on March 31, a day before Dalal placed the trades. Sebi said the noticee (Rupesh Satish Dalal HUF) bought multiple call option contracts of HDFC Ltd and HDFC Bank Ltd on April 1, 2022, while being in possession of the UPSI.

Sebi issues mechanism for monitoring of minimum investment threshold under SIF

Sebi on Tuesday came out with a mechanism for monitoring compliance with minimum investment threshold under Specialized Investment Funds (SIF). In case of any active breach of the threshold of Rs 10 lakh by an investor, including through transactions on stock exchanges or off-market transfers, Sebi said that all units of such investors held across investment strategies of the concerned SIF would be frozen for debit.

Sebi relaxes NRI trading norms in derivatives mkt

Sebi on Tuesday decided to abolish the mandatory requirement for NRIs to notify the names of clearing members or obtain a custodial participantcode for trading in derivatives. Moreover, their position limits will be monitored at the client level. The decision is aimed at facilitating ease of doing investment to NRIs for trading in exchange traded derivatives contracts and bringing in operational efficiency.