NSE sets yet another precedent: annuls mala-fide trades
Mumbai: The National Stock Exchange (NSE), which has already set a few precedents in the country, did so again when it ordered the annulment of trades which were found to be carried on with mala fide intentions.

Trades done in stocks like Maruti Organics Ltd and Kamal Overseas Ltd have been annuled by the exchange since they were not found to be genuine. In the case of the former, in an organised manner, a large number of buy transactions were put through by constituents of the company, who subsequently absconded without honouring their commitments.

While the NSE had suspended trading in the shares on receipt of complaints, after detailed investigations it decided that the complaints were genuine and the trades were annulled.

In case of Kamal Overseas Ltd, it was alleged that trading was concentrated in the hands of a few trading members and there was also prima facie case of churning and market manipulation. In this case, trading was suspended and pay-out was withheld. After investigation it was revealed that persons were acting in concert on both the buy and sell sides for creation of a false market with a malafide intention of churning and market manipulation.

The exchange therefore decided to annul the trades in case of Kamal Overseas.Trading was suspended in both of the above mentioned instances before the investigations by the exchange were over.

Taking cue from this, the brokers affected in the Amara Raja Batteries' case at the Bombay Stock Exchange have also asked for the annulment of trades in this scrip. According to market sources, the operations of Mr Hari Narayan Bajaj (the lead broker who had stage-managed the manipulation in this scrip) had also been planned in the same way, ie, defraud the buying brokers while taking money from the selling brokers.
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UTI to be embroiled in Sebi probe
Mumbai: In a serious turn to the ongoing investigations in the stock market scam, the Securities and Exchanges Board of India (Sebi) has been directed by the finance ministry to look into the involvement, if any, of the country’s largest mutual fund Unit Trust of India (UTI). This direction has come in the wake of the ministry’s charge of alleged insider trading in the shares of Himachal Futuristic Communication and Zee Telefilms.

UTI holds about 85 lakh to 1 crore equity shares of HFCL, which aggregated to between 10 and 15 per cent of the company’s voting rights. The company also had large investments in scrips like Zee Telefilms.

Reacting to the ministry’s directive, Mr. P S Subramanyam, UTI chairman said that the charges are totally baseless as the fund has merely performed its role as a mutual fund in buying, selling and booking profits, where necessary.

So far the only entities being investigated by Sebi have been stockbrokers and some promoters.
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