{"id":231900,"date":"2020-07-08T12:00:01","date_gmt":"2020-07-08T06:30:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/?p=231900"},"modified":"2020-07-14T18:13:45","modified_gmt":"2020-07-14T12:43:45","slug":"the-indian-stock-market-saga","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2020\/07\/08\/the-indian-stock-market-saga\/","title":{"rendered":"The Indian Stock Market Saga"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p2\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"s2\">A\u00a0stock market (also known as an equity market\u00a0or\u00a0a share market)\u00a0is a platform that facilitates trading in <span class=\"s3\">stocks<\/span>\u00a0(also called shares). These stocks represent ownership claims on businesses. The buyers and the sellers often execute their trade in the stock market via an <\/span><span class=\"s1\">electronic trading platform<\/span><span class=\"s2\">. There are two major stock exchanges in India viz. the\u00a0<span class=\"s3\">Bombay Stock Exchange<\/span>\u00a0(BSE) and the\u00a0<span class=\"s3\">National Stock Exchange\u00a0<\/span>(NSE). As on April 30, 2020, the BSE had 5,542<span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>[1]<\/strong><\/span> listed firms, whereas NSE had about 1,795<span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>[2]<\/strong><\/span> listed firms as on March 31, 2020.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"s1\">To gauge the performance of stock markets various indices are formulated. An index serves as an indicator of the performance of the overall market or a sub-segment\/sector within the market. The two prominent indices in the Indian stock market are\u00a0Sensex\u00a0and Nifty. Sensex is the oldest\u00a0market index\u00a0for equities, which includes shares of top 30 companies listed on the BSE. Similarly, Nifty comprises of the top 50 shares listed on the NSE.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"s1\" style=\"color: #008000;\"><b>Settlement and Trading Mechanism<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"s1\">Trading at both the exchanges takes place through an electronic platform. An electronic\u00a0order book\u00a0is maintained for all the buy and sell orders. The orders placed by investors are automatically matched against the determined price (explained in a subsequent section) and therefore there is no direct interaction between the buyers and the sellers. This helps in bringing in more\u00a0transparency\u00a0by displaying all buy and sell orders. However, since there are no market makers in such a system therefore there is no guarantee that all orders will be executed. The stock markets have brokers, who act as facilitators of trade through their online trading facilities to both retail and institutional investors. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"s1\">The settlement in the stock market happens two business days post the trading day (<i>also abbreviated as \u2018T+2 settlement mechanism\u2019<\/i>), which means that any trade taking place on Monday will be settled by Wednesday provided neither of Tuesday and Wednesday is a public holiday. A delayed settlement mechanism provides time to both the seller and buyer to arrange for required documents and for funds respectively for the trade to be executed. Each exchange has its own\u00a0clearing house, which assumes all\u00a0settlement risk\u00a0by serving as a central counterparty.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"s1\" style=\"color: #008000;\"><b>Categories of investors<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"s1\">Investment in a Company is basically done by the promoter group or the public investors. The public investors can be further divided into institutional investors and retail investors. The following chart gives a brief overview of the various types of investors in the Indian context:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-231909 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Screenshot-2020-07-08-at-11.39.58-AM-300x128.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"438\" height=\"187\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Screenshot-2020-07-08-at-11.39.58-AM-300x128.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Screenshot-2020-07-08-at-11.39.58-AM-60x26.jpg 60w, https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Screenshot-2020-07-08-at-11.39.58-AM.jpg 589w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 438px) 100vw, 438px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"s1\">FPIs\/FIIs play an important role in the Indian stock market. They would generally include hedge funds, foreign mutual funds, sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, asset management companies, amongst others. They have been pivotal in the growth of India\u2019s financial markets over the last two decades. It is estimated that FPIs\/FIIs would have invested around INR 12.5 trillion (USD 180 billion) in India between fiscal year 2002-2020 (till March 2020) as per the various media reports.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"s1\">The role of DIIs has dramatically changed over the last five years as investors have started looking beyond the traditional gold and real estate as investment options. A rising middle class and a declining interest rate regime has also added to their fortunes. DIIs generally include mutual funds, insurance companies and banks\/financial institutions. It is estimated that MFs alone have invested more than INR 4.5 trillion in Indian equities over last five years as per the various media reports.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"s1\">Strong presence of FIIs\/DIIs amongst a listed company\u2019s shareholders is also considered as a proxy for good governance practices being followed by the Company.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"s1\">Supported by strong inflows from the FIIs\/FPIs and DIIs, Indian stock markets have seen a healthy growth over the last decade. If we look at the returns just before the markets crashed due to COVID-19 pandemic, Nifty had grown at 9.7% compounded annual growth rate.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-231908 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Screenshot-2020-07-08-at-11.39.50-AM-300x218.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"466\" height=\"339\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Screenshot-2020-07-08-at-11.39.50-AM-300x218.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Screenshot-2020-07-08-at-11.39.50-AM-60x44.jpg 60w, https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Screenshot-2020-07-08-at-11.39.50-AM.jpg 646w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 466px) 100vw, 466px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"p5\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"s1\"><span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s1\" style=\"color: #008000;\"><b>Pricing of shares on the stock exchange<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"s1\">Stocks are priced the same way any commodity is priced globally i.e. governed by the principals of supply and demand. Market participants place buy and sell orders which are also known as \u2018bid\u2019 and \u2018ask\u2019 respectively. Stock prices are determined by matching these buy and sell orders. The price of a stock at any point is the price at which maximum number of shares can be transacted basis the bids and asks at that time. After the price is arrived at, the open bid and ask positions are closed and the underlying transactions are completed. Thereafter, this price is displayed as the price of the stock for that moment. All this happens on real-time basis with the help of electronic platforms.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"s1\" style=\"color: #008000;\"><b>Price manipulation and Unfair Trade Practices in the Indian Stock Market<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"s2\">The basic rule governing securities market is that the parties shall not indulge in any fraudulent activities. Rigging the price of securities obstructs the free forces of supply and demand and makes the stock manipulated. Such a fraud occurs when an advisor or a stockbroker offers deficient or prejudiced information to control the market. A devious cartel develops which rigs the liquidity and price and this is called \u201cprice rigging\u201d.<b> <\/b>Under price rigging, a stock is made to look liquid and valuable to a general investor while it is being traded only within a set of parties amongst themselves. This tempts such investors to invest in such shares chasing future value. This is where the devious cartel makes money as the innocent investor has invested in a stock at a falsely elevated price. There are many variations to this<\/span><span class=\"s4\">. <\/span><span class=\"s2\">Some of the popular variations are circular trading, pump and dump schemes, front running, etc. Another aspect is the unfair trade practice of insider trading by persons in possession of unpublished price sensitive information. Here we discuss them in detail with respect to the regulatory framework and controls in the Indian securities market.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"s1\" style=\"color: #008000;\"><b>Regulatory framework and controls facilitating fair market conduct<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"s1\">The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)<strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">[3]<\/span><\/strong> is vested with the responsibility of protecting the interests of investors in securities and promoting the development of the securities market. SEBI safeguards the integrity of the markets by making regulations which help in detecting market frauds on a proactive basis, inspecting abusive or manipulative dealings in the securities market and punishing the wrong doers by taking disciplinary action. SEBI has been given legislative, executive, and quasi-judicial powers under the SEBI Act, 1992 to help it in fulfilling its duties.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"s1\">SEBI had framed the SEBI (Prohibition of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices relating to Securities Markets) Regulations in 1995 to combat market abuse related to \u201cmarket manipulation\u201d. These Regulations were substituted with the SEBI (Prohibition of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices relating to Securities Market) Regulations, 2003 (\u201cthe PFUTP Regulations\u201d) which were notified on 17th July, 2003.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"s1\">SEBI had promulgated the SEBI (Prohibition of Insider Trading) Regulations, 1992 to combat market abuse related to \u201cinsider trading\u201d. These regulations were amended in 2002 to bring in the concept of code of conduct for prevention of insider trading, as well as a code for corporate disclosure practices. Further these regulations were reviewed by the Sodhi Committee and were substituted by the SEBI (Prohibition of Insider Trading) Regulations, 2015<strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">[4]<\/span><\/strong> (\u201cthe Insider Trading Regulations\u201d or \u201cthe PIT Regulations\u201d).<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"s1\">During Financial Year 2018-19, 84<strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">[5]<\/span><\/strong> new cases of market manipulation and price rigging were taken up for investigation by SEBI. 60 cases were completed while 70<strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">[6]<\/span><\/strong> cases of insider trading were taken up for investigation by SEBI and 19 were completed. Strict classification under specific category becomes difficult since several investigation cases involve multiple allegations of violations. Therefore, cases are generally classified by SEBI on the basis of main charge\/violations. Here we discuss the SEBI Regulations governing market abuse related to manipulation and insider trading.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><\/b><span class=\"s2\"><b>1. SEBI (Prohibition of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices relating to Securities Market) Regulations, 2003 (\u201cPFUTP Regulations\u201d)<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p8\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>1.1 Scope of the PFUTP Regulations<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p9\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"s1\">The PFUTP Regulations<i> <\/i><b><i>deal with market abuse such as manipulative, fraudulent and unfair trade practices<\/i><\/b>. Fraudulent and unfair trade practices are prohibited under Section 12-A of the SEBI Act. Pursuant to the recommendation of Committee on Fair Market Conduct or the T.K. Viswanathan Committee<strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">[7]<\/span><\/strong> (\u201cthe Committee\u201d) in its Report dated 8<\/span><span class=\"s5\"><sup>th<\/sup><\/span><span class=\"s1\"> August 2018<b>,<\/b> SEBI has made amendment to the PFUTP Regulations vide the SEBI (Prohibition of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices relating to Securities Market) (Amendment) Regulations, 2018<strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">[8]<\/span><\/strong> (&#8220;the Amendment Regulations&#8221;<b>). <\/b>An attempt has been made by SEBI to bring the provisions of the PFUTP Regulations in sync with several Supreme Court judgments which have dealt with matters related to market manipulation, fraud, and unfair trade practices through these amendments.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p9\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"s1\">A wide variety of practices undertaken to compromise the market\u2019s integrity and efficiency for one\u2019s personal gains are covered under market manipulation. <b>Market Manipulation<\/b> as defined in <i>Palmer\u2019s Company Law<\/i> and noted by the<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Supreme Court<strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">[9]<\/span><\/strong>, &#8220;<i>Market<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>manipulation<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>is<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>normally<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>regarded<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>as<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>the<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>\u2018unwarranted\u2019<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>interference<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>in<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>the operation<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>of<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>ordinary<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>market forces of<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>supply<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>and<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>demand<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>and<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>thus<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>undermines<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>the \u2018integrity\u2019 and efficiency of the market.&#8221;<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p11\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"s2\">The<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Supreme Court observed<strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">[10]<\/span><\/strong><span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>that<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>\u201c<b><i>market manipulation <\/i><\/b><i>is<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>a deliberate attempt to interfere with the free and fair operation of the market and create artificial, false<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>or<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>misleading<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>appearances<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>with<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>respect<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>to<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>the<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>price,<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>market,<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>product, security and currency<\/i>.\u201d <\/span><span class=\"s4\">Further the<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Supreme Court has also defined <b><i>unfair trade practices <\/i><\/b>in the aforesaid judgment as follows:<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p12\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"s1\">\u201c<i>Having regard to the fact that the dealings in the stock exchange are governed by the principles of fair play and transparency, one does not have to labour much on the meaning of <\/i><b><i>unfair trade practices<\/i><\/b><i> in securities. Contextually and in simple words, it means a practice which does not confirm to the fair and transparent principles of trades in the stock market<\/i>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p11\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"s2\">Under the PFUTP Regulations the burden of proof is on SEBI to show that the manipulation took place.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p12\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Wider ambit and broad safeguards<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p12\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"s6\">In <i>SEBI v. Kanaiyalal Baldev Patel<\/i><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>[11]<\/strong><\/span><b> <\/b><\/span><span class=\"s1\"> the Supreme Court has interpreted the term \u2018fraud\u2019 <\/span><span class=\"s6\">to be wider than fraud as understood under the<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Contract Act, 1872. <\/span><span class=\"s1\">The Court held that, &#8220;<i>The definition of \u201cfraud\u201d, which is an inclusive definition and, therefore, has to be understood to be broad and expansive, contemplates even an action or omission, as may be committed, even without any deceit if such act or omission has the effect of inducing another person to deal in securities. Certainly, the definition expands beyond what can be normally understood to be a \u201cfraudulent act\u201d or a conduct amounting to \u201cfraud\u201d. The emphasis is on the act of inducement and the scrutiny must, therefore, be on the meaning that must be attributed to the word \u201c<\/i><b><i>induce<\/i><\/b><i>\u201d<\/i>.&#8221; The burden here, on SEBI, is not to prove that the inducement was done dishonestly or in bad faith by the person, but only to establish that the person so induced would not have acted the way he did if he was not induced. Thus, it can be concluded that SEBI is not required to prove that the intention of the person was to commit the fraud. However, it has even been expressly stated in the judgment that, &#8220;<i>mens rea is not an indispensable requirement to attract the rigour of Regulations 3 and 4, and the correct test is one of preponderance of probabilities<\/i>.&#8221; <\/span><span class=\"s6\">Further <\/span><span class=\"s1\">in this judgment, front running by a non-intermediary has been brought within the prohibition prescribed under Regulations 3 and 4(1) of the SEBI (Prohibition of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices Relating to Securities Market) Regulations, 2003. A wider interpretation was given to the term \u2018<b><i>unfairness\u2019 <\/i><\/b>to be inclusive of the concepts of \u2018deception\u2019 and \u2018fraud\u2019. Unfair trade practices require adjudication on case-to-case basis. It was observed that, &#8220;<i>If the conduct undermines the ethical standards and good faith dealings between parties engaged in business transactions then the trade practice is deemed to be unfair.&#8221;<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p12\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"s1\">Further in <i>N. Narayanan v. Adjudicating Officer<\/i><b><i>, <\/i><\/b><i>SEBI<\/i><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>[12]<\/strong><\/span>, the<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Supreme Court has noted that, &#8220;<i>manipulation in the price of securities can also be can also be achieved by inflating the company&#8217;s revenue, profits, security deposits and receivables, resulting in price rise of the scrip of the company<\/i>.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p12\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"s1\">Based on the aforesaid judgments and the recommendations of the Committee<strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">[13]<\/span><\/strong>, the scope of the definition of dealing in securities as laid down in Regulation 2(1)(b) of the PFUTP Regulations was broadened vide the Amendment Regulations to comprise of persons providing assistance in such dealing in securities. Further, based on the recommendations of the committee, Regulation 4 of the PFUTP Regulations was also amended vide the Amendment Regulations to expand the ambit of the PFUTP Regulations to restrict new practices that could perpetuate market abuse.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p13\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>1.2 PFUTP Regulations &#8211; Combination of rule-based and principle-based approaches<span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">[14]<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p9\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"s1\">The Committee laid down that these Regulations are a combination of rule-based and principle-based approaches. The underlying broad principles governing fraudulent and unfair trade practices are laid down in Regulations 3 and<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>4(1) of the PFUTP Regulations and are intended to cover diverse situations and possibilities whereas Regulation 4(2) lays down specific rules that prohibit certain conduct by deeming them fraudulent activities or unfair trade practice.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p9\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"s1\">Such a perspective not only speaks of the broad principles for ensuring fair markets but also enables rules to be specified to prohibit an illustrative list of identifiable unfair and manipulative trade practices thus being suitable for the present stage of market development. The Committee recommended that rule-based Regulation 4(2) to be updated at regular intervals to keep up with the changes in the securities market environment.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><\/b><span class=\"s2\"><b>2. SEBI (Prohibition of Insider Trading) Regulations, 2015<span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">[15]<\/span> (&#8220;PIT Regulations&#8221;)<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p12\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>2.1 General meaning of the term Insider Trading<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p15\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"s4\"><b><i>&#8216;Insider Trading&#8217;<\/i><\/b> is the unlawful act of dealing in <\/span><span class=\"s2\">securities of the Company by the person who has some information which is not accessible to the general public in the market thereby allowing them to make unlawful gains. Insider Trading is prohibited under Section 12-A of the SEBI Act. To regulate such trading, SEBI had promulgated the SEBI (Prohibition of Insider Trading) Regulations, 1992, which was reviewed by a High-Level Committee and culminated in the SEBI (Prohibition of Insider Trading) Regulations, 2015. Further, in<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Financial Year 2018-19 SEBI appointed the Committee and in accordance with the recommendations made by the Committee, these Regulations have been amended by way of the SEBI (Prohibition of Insider Trading) (Amendment) Regulations, 2018<strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">[16]<\/span><\/strong> i.e. the Amendment Regulations to strengthen transparency, enforcement mechanism and to ensure institutional responsibility.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p12\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>2.2 Analysis of Insider Trading Regulations<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p16\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"s1\">Regulation 2(1)(g) of the SEBI (Prohibition of Insider Trading) Regulations, 2015, defines insider as:<\/span><\/p>\n<ol class=\"ol2\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li class=\"li2\"><span class=\"s2\">A connected person; or<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"li2\"><span class=\"s2\">In possession of or having access to unpublished price sensitive information.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p class=\"p16\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"s1\">To distinguish an ordinary investor who trades in the stocks of a Company on the basis of his\/her own financial knowledge from those who are either connected with the Company or have access to unpublished price sensitive information, SEBI coined the term \u201c<i>insider<\/i>\u201d. The intent here is to safeguard the interest of the investing public against any financial misfortunes<i>. <\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p16\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"s1\">Let us first look at what constitutes unpublished price sensitive information (UPSI). Any material information with regard to capital raising, mergers or demergers, acquisitions or business restructuring, unpublished financial results, bonus issues or any other information which can potentially impact the price of the security once made public is usually treated as UPSI. <i>Here it is intended that anyone in possession of or having access to UPSI should be considered an \u201cinsider\u201d regardless of how one came in possession of or had access to such information.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p16\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"s1\">Another term which forms part of the definition of insider is &#8220;connected person&#8221;.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>The definition of &#8220;connected person&#8221;<strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">[17]<\/span><\/strong> has been broadened in the PIT Regulations, 2015 wherein any person who is or has during the six months prior to the act concerned<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>been related to the Company in any manner, directly or indirectly and has access to unpublished price sensitive information (UPSI) or is reasonably deemed to have access to UPSI will be treated as a \u2018connected person\u2019. Therefore, even the support staff of the organisation including the office boys, driver, cleaner etc. will be included within the purview of the definition.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p17\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"s2\">In the matter of <\/span><span class=\"s1\"><i>Palred Technologies<\/i><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>[18]<\/strong><\/span><b>, <\/b><\/span><span class=\"s2\">SEBI held that persons connected to each other as mutual friends on social networking websites like Facebook, will also be treated as \u2018insider\u2019 in the event of any of them trading in the shares of the Company on the basis of UPSI. On the contrary, the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) in a 2008 case<strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">[19] <\/span><\/strong><\/span><span class=\"s1\">held that, &#8220;an auditor of the Company cannot be rationally considered to be in the possession of the information relating to merger of the Company with another, until it is confirmed that the valuation report on the merger prepared by the chartered accountant was made <\/span><span class=\"s4\">available to him<\/span><span class=\"s2\">.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>SAT further observed that, \u201cNo Company would allow such sensitive information to reach the auditor till it has been made public.\u201d Therefore, the auditor cannot be considered as an insider just by virtue of his role. <i>The main aspect in considering any person as an insider will be the possession of<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>UPSI which he has had and in case, the contrary is proved, the said person will not be treated as an insider.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p18\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"s1\">Regulation 2(1)(e) of the PIT Regulations defines <\/span><span class=\"s7\"><i>\u201cgenerally available information\u201d as &#8220;information that is accessible to the public on a non-discriminatory basis.\u201d <\/i><\/span><span class=\"s1\">This definition grants SEBI the ability to decide, on a case specific basis, whether certain information is available on a non-discriminatory basis, so as to not classify\/treat it as a UPSI.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p16\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"s1\">Regulation 3 of the PIT Regulations prohibits the communication and procurement of unpublished price sensitive information, unless such communication\/procurement is in furtherance of legitimate purposes, performance of duties or discharge of legal obligations. Further, Regulation 3(2-A) lays down that, &#8220;The board of directors of a listed company shall make a policy for determination of \u201clegitimate purposes\u201d as a part of \u201cCode of Fair Disclosure and Conduct\u201d formulated under Regulation 8. Regulation 3(2-A) was inserted vide the Amendment Regulations on the recommendation<strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">[20]<\/span><\/strong> of the Committee wherein the Committee noted that the term legitimate purpose is not defined under PIT Regulations and is open to various strict and expansive interpretations<strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">[21]<\/span><\/strong>. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p16\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"s1\">Regulation 4 of the PIT Regulations prohibits trading by insiders while in possession of UPSI. However, the Regulation allows the insider to prove his innocence by demonstrating certain circumstances. The burden of proof is on the insider to show that he\/she did not trade while in possession of inside information (\u201cunpublished price sensitive information\u201d or \u201cUPSI\u201d).<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p16\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"s1\">Thus, we see that the PIT Regulations put restrictions on communication and trading by insiders. Exceptions have been provided in the event of such communication being in furtherance of legitimate purposes or discharge of legal obligations.\u00a0This necessitates all insiders of corporates not to disclose any information to anybody including, even other insiders which may result into disclosure of UPSI under the new code for insiders. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p16\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"s1\">The penalty for insider trading is prescribed in the SEBI Act<strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">[22]<\/span><\/strong> which states that any insider who:<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p16\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"s1\">\u201ceither on his own behalf or on behalf of any other person, deals in securities of a body corporate listed on any stock exchange on the basis of any unpublished price-sensitive information; or communicates any unpublished price-sensitive information to any person, with or without his request for such information except as required in the ordinary course of business or under any law; or counsels, or procures for any other person to deal in any securities of anybody corporate on the basis of unpublished price-sensitive information, shall be liable to a penalty which shall not be less than ten lakh rupees but which may extend to twenty-five crore rupees or three times the amount of profits made out of insider trading, whichever is higher.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p16\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"s1\">Insider trading penalties in India, though having monetary quantification, do not have severe punishments\/penalties, as is prevalent in other countries by way of imprisonment, supervised release and substantial payments in form of fines\/penalties. The case and decision given by the District Court of New York in the <i>matter involving Rajat Gupta, Director of Goldman Sachs and Rajaratnam, Founder of Galleon Group<\/i><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>[23]<\/strong><\/span> is a testimony to the seriousness of other countries to curb insider trading.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><\/b><span class=\"s2\"><b>3. Surveillance, Investigation and Enforcement by SEBI<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p15\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"s2\">SEBI has made appropriate laws and regulations to ensure market integrity, fair market conduct and protection of interest of investors. To ensure compliance with the aforesaid regulations SEBI has laid down mechanisms that helps in uncovering breaches through effective surveillance and investigation and penalty thereof by strong enforcement action<\/span><span class=\"s4\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p15\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"s2\">Market Surveillance Division was set up in SEBI in July 1995, with a view to keep a proactive oversight on the surveillance activities of the stock exchanges<strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">[24]<\/span><\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p21\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"s1\">The stock exchanges apprise SEBI of surveillance concerns and actions at the regular <\/span><span class=\"s6\">surveillance meetings.<\/span><span class=\"s1\"> The stock exchanges also take punitive actions (suspension of the trading in the scrips, debarment of the suspected entities, etc.).<strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">[25]<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p21\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"s1\">Certain stocks lack liquidity thereby making it easier for unscrupulous elements to influence the price and volumes of stocks with lesser efforts. Liquidity is concentrated around the top 500 odd listed stocks. 100% dematerialisation of shares has been mandated on the recommendation of the committee on fair market conduct<strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">[26]<\/span><\/strong> in order to deter attempts at manipulation in stocks which are illiquid and have low market capitalisation. Further, the cost of trading in illiquid stocks has been increased. SEBI also has the powers to seek call data records (list of people in touch with the caller) of those being probed, but it cannot intercept calls. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p22\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"s1\">In a recent case, <i>In the matter of<\/i> <i>Indiabulls Ventures Limited<\/i><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">[27]<\/span><\/strong>, SEBI passed an order impounding INR 87.21 Lakhs belonging to Ms Pia Johnson, non-executive director of Indiabulls Ventures Ltd. (IVL), and her husband Mehul Johnson who traded in the scrip of IVL, based on UPSI communicated by his wife to him. The penalty levied here is only the collective alleged gains of the two with an annual 12% interest since the gains were made in the year 2017.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p22\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"s1\">Here we can see that though the regulator has been stepping up the surveillance and other monitoring mechanisms for prevention of insider trading and other manipulative practices, a general sentiment that emerges is that the regulator needs to further tighten up on the penalties\/punishments, which acts as a deterrent for committing such acts.<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"s1\" style=\"color: #008000;\">*Counsel, Neeti Niyaman<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"s2\"><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">[1]<\/span><\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bseindia.com\/markets\/keystatics\/Keystat_Companies.aspx\">https:\/\/www.bseindia.com\/markets\/keystatics\/Keystat_Companies.aspx<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">[2]<\/span><\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nseindia.com\/regulations\/listing-compliance\/nse-market-capitalisation-all-companies\">https:\/\/www.nseindia.com\/regulations\/listing-compliance\/nse-market-capitalisation-all-companies<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">[3]<\/span><\/strong> <span style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink\/mulMMe8P\">Section 11 of Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992<\/a> (SEBI Act, 1992)<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">[4] <\/span><\/strong><span class=\"s1\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink\/g13z1u9D\">SEBI (Prohibition of Insider Trading) Regulations, 2015<\/a><span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">[5]<\/span><\/strong> <span class=\"s1\">Annual report of SEBI for<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Financial Year 2018-19<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">[6]<\/span><\/strong> <span style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;\">Annual report of SEBI for Financial Year 2018-19<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">[7]<\/span><\/strong> <span class=\"s1\">Report of Committee on Fair Market Conduct or TK Viswanathan Committee (August 08, 2018)<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sebi.gov.in\/reports\/reports\/aug-2018\/report-of-committee-on-fair-market-conduct-for-public-comments_39884.html\"><span class=\"s1\">https:\/\/www.sebi.gov.in\/reports\/reports\/aug-2018\/report-of-committee-on-fair-market-conduct-for-public-comments_39884.html<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">[8]<\/span><\/strong> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink\/2PQZj3pM\"><span class=\"s1\">Securities and Exchange Board of India (Prohibition of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices relating to Securities Market) (Amendment) Regulations, 2018<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">[9]<\/span><\/strong> <span class=\"s1\">N. Narayanan v. Adjudicating Officer (SEBI), <a href=\"http:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink\/v9A0lKA0\">(2013) 12 SCC 152<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">[10]<\/span><\/strong> <span class=\"s1\" style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;\">SEBI v. Rakhi Trading <\/span><span class=\"s2\" style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;\">(P) Ltd., <a href=\"http:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink\/41A46GZ0\">(2018) 13 SCC 753<\/a><\/span><span class=\"s1\" style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">[11]<\/span><\/strong> <span class=\"s1\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink\/h75OzdgS\">(2017) 15 SCC 1<\/a><span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">[12]<\/span><\/strong> <span class=\"s1\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink\/v9A0lKA0\">(2013) 12 SCC 152<\/a><span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">[13]<\/span><\/strong> <span class=\"s1\">Report of Committee on Fair Market Conduct or TK Viswanathan Committee <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sebi.gov.in\/reports\/reports\/aug-2018\/report-of-committee-on-fair-market-conduct-for-public-comments_39884.html\"><span class=\"s1\">https:\/\/www.sebi.gov.in\/reports\/reports\/aug-2018\/report-of-committee-on-fair-market-conduct-for-public-comments_39884.html<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">[14]<\/span><\/strong> Ibid<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">[15]<\/span><\/strong> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink\/S9k2AXBL\"><span class=\"s1\">Securities and Exchange Board of India (Prohibition of Insider Trading) Regulations, 2015<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">[16]<\/span><\/strong> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink\/ure82AE3\"><span class=\"s1\">Securities and Exchange Board of India (Prohibition of Insider Trading) (Amendment) Regulations, 2018<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">[17] <\/span><\/strong><span style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;\">Regulation 2(d) of PIT Regulations, 2015<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">[18]<\/span><\/strong> <span class=\"s1\">In the matter of trading in the shares of Palred Technologies Limited,<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink\/9n0K79YD\">2016 SCC OnLine SEBI 42<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">[19]<\/span><\/strong> <span style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;\">Sadhana Nabera v. SEBI, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink\/9t0TS4kp\">2009 SCC OnLine SEBI 20<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">[20]<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0 <span class=\"s1\">Report of Committee on Fair Market Conduct or TK Viswanathan Committee dated August 08, 2018<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sebi.gov.in\/reports\/reports\/aug-2018\/report-of-committee-on-fair-market-conduct-for-public-comments_39884.html\"><span class=\"s1\">https:\/\/www.sebi.gov.in\/reports\/reports\/aug-2018\/report-of-committee-on-fair-market-conduct-for-public-comments_39884.html<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">[21]<\/span><\/strong> <span style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;\">Rakesh Agrawal v. SEBI, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink\/9ZM2LxC8\">2003 SCC Online SAT 38<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">[22]<\/span><\/strong> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink\/mulMMe8P\"><span style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;\">Section 15-G of the SEBI Act<\/span><span class=\"Apple-converted-space\" style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">[23]<\/span><\/strong> <span style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;\">Securities and Exchange Commission v. Rajat K Gupta and Raj Rajaratnam, Civil Action No. 11-CV-7566 (SDNY) (JSR), Dod: 27.12.2012<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">[24]<\/span><\/strong> <span class=\"s1\">www.sebi.gov.in<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">[25] <\/span><\/strong><span style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;\">Annual report of SEBI for Financial Year 2018-19<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">[26]<\/span><\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sebi.gov.in\/reports\/reports\/aug-2018\/report-of-committee-on-fair-market-conduct-for-public-comments_39884.html\"><span style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;\">Report of Committee on Fair Market Conduct<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">[27]<\/span><\/strong> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink\/XNwBDXo2\"><span style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;\">2019 SCC OnLine SEBI 81<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Vini Gupta*<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8808,"featured_media":231910,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42503,1191],"tags":[42402,42403,39984,42401,30003],"class_list":["post-231900","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-legal-analysis","category-op-ed","tag-fair-market-conduct","tag-fraudulent-activities","tag-indian-stock-market","tag-price-manipulation","tag-unfair-trade"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.4 (Yoast SEO v26.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Indian Stock Market Saga | SCC Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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