GTB: Don''t panic, SEBI tells investors

Mumbai: SEBI this morning assured the investors not to panic over the crisis in the Global Trust Bank with its chairman G N Bajpai saying that there was no problem of settlement and stock market will function "normally".

Bajpai said that he had reviewed the situation in the last two days and had asked the exchanges — National Stock Exchange and Mumbai Stock Exchange — not to 'dislevel' terminals of the brokers who had furnished their deposits with GTB as guarantees.

On the issue of suspension of trading in GTB scrip, he told NDTV that the decision would be taken to the exchange authorities before the trading commence on Monday.

He, however, did not comment on whether the current crisis was a fall out of the earlier scam involving Ketan Parekh that had hit the bank a few years ago.

Stating that GTB was not a very major clearing agent at the NSE though it was active in BSE, Bajpai asserted there was no cause for 'panic' and the exchange authorities would give time to brokers to furnish guarantee.

He said that authorities were asking brokers for extra margins to replace bank guarantees and adequate time would be given for the purpose