SAT stays Sebi ban on First Global's Sharma

The Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) has stayed the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) order against stock broker and First Global’s director Shankar Sharma.

Sharma will now be able to trade in the equity markets till SAT’s stay order is in effect. Passing the order today, Justice N K Sodi said the balance of convenience was in favour of Sharma as Sebi’s order last month came long after SAT had set aside the regulator’s earlier order of 2004.

Sebi had banned Sharma from trading in the equity markets for one year on February 13, 2009. Sebi whole-time member M S Sahoo had passed the order in relation to a 2001 investigation, and charged Sharma for fictitious trades and stock market manipulation.

The order had said that, in the period, Sharma executed huge amounts of trades as a client of Bang Equity. These trades were matched through synchronised trades executed by Vrudhi Confinvest, a fully-owned firm by Sharma and his wife, Devina Mehra, as a client of First Global Stock Broking.

The details of these trades showed there were hardly any time/quantity/price differences between the buy and sell orders. Sebi also observed that in most cases, the rate, quantity and timing of the buy orders matched, or were close to similar parameters of the sale orders. Therefore, the parties engaged in synchronised deals, Sebi said.