Sebi cracks down on former officials of MCX, FTIL
Cracking its whip, regulator Sebi Wednesday impounded averted losses totalling Rs 125 crore through alleged insider trading in MCX and its erstwhile promoter FTIL by 13 persons, including relatives of Jignesh Shah and former top executives, with 'prior information' about the NSEL case. The National Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL), promoted by Financial Technologies India Ltd (FTIL), had to suspend trading on July 31, 2013 after a major payment crisis broke out at the bourse. Subsequently, number of regulators and enforcement agencies launched their probes into the NSEL case. In two separate orders passed Wednesday, Sebi said its investigations into alleged insider trading in shares of Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX) and the erstwhile FTIL (which has now changed its name to 63 Moons Technologies Ltd) found that 13 persons "prima facie" traded in these stocks when in possession of 'unpublished price sensitive information'.
Finding them "prima facie guilty of insider trading", the regulator said these persons were able to avoid any potential loss in the shares of MCX and FTIL and it has become necessary to take steps for impounding and retaining the loss averted by them. Those named in the order relating to FTIL include former MCX CEO Shreekant Javalgekar and his wife Asha; Jignesh Shah's brother Manish Shah and father Prakash Shah; FTIL employee and a former director at NSEL Hariharan Vaidyalingam; another FTIL employee V Arvindkumar Iyengar and his wife Dhanashri; and Bharat Kanaiyalal Sheth (brother of FTIL director Ravi Sheth).
Three of them -- Javalgekar couple and Hariharan Vaidyalingam -- also figure in the MCX order. Five others named in the MCX order include former MCX chief Joseph Massey; ex-director at MCX Paras Ajmera; former NSEL CEO Anjani Sinha; Tejal Shah (wife of Manjay Shah, Jignesh Shah's brother and FTIL director); and Mehmood Vaid, a senior vice president at FTIL. Jignesh Shah had served as Chairman and Managing Director of FTIL at that time.