Infosys to initiate internal investigation into insider trading case

India's second largest IT firm Infosys on Tuesday said it will initiate an internal investigation into an insider trading matter after markets regulator Sebi barred two of its employees from the securities market in the case.

Sebi has banned eight entities, including two employees of Infosys, for indulging in insider trading activities in the shares of the company.

The entities have traded in the scrip of Infosys while in possession of Unpublished Price Sensitive Information (UPSI) pertaining to Infosys' financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2020, Sebi said in an interim order passed on Monday.

"On June 1, Infosys was informed of an interim ex-parte Sebi order where two of its employees, amongst other third parties have been named, in an ongoing insider trading investigation... The company will extend full cooperation as required to Sebi on the matter," Infosys said in an e-mailed statement on Tuesday.

As a result of the order, an internal investigation is being initiated and appropriate action will be taken on conclusion of such investigation, it added.

Infosys also said that it has a well-defined Code of Conduct covering all its employees and an Insider Trading Policy that governs dealing with UPSI.

As per the Sebi order, Pranshu Bhutra, Senior Corporate Counsel of Infosys and Venkata Subramaniam V V, Senior Principal, Corporate Accounting Group of the company have been barred from the securities market till further orders.

The order came after the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) alert system had generated insider trading alerts for the scrip of Infosys for the period around July 15, 2020 i.e. around the corporate announcement of audited financial results of the company for the quarter ended June 30, 2020.

Thereafter, based on the alert, Sebi had conducted a preliminary examination in the scrip of Infosys to ascertain whether certain entities had violated the regulatory provisions.