Sebi passes consent order in Zenzar Technologies case

Sebi said that it has disposed of adjudication proceedings against the company

Market watchdog Sebi has settled allegations of insider trading charges against Pedriano Investments Ltd after it paid a little over Rs 6 lakh towards settlement fees.

Sebi (Securities and Exchange Board of India), in its consent order passed on April 12, said the order will come into force immediately and that it has disposed of adjudication proceedings against the company.

A consent order enables settling administrative or civil proceedings between the regulator and the concerned party.

The regulator had conducted investigations into alleged irregularities in the scrip of Zenzar Technologies Ltd as well as promoter's shareholding for the quarters ended March 2009 to March 2010.

The probe revealed that Pedriano Investments, one of the promoter entity of Zenzar Technologies, had failed to disclose to the company information regarding its shareholding within the specified time-frame.

Pedriano Investments has fallen from 8.11 per cent in December 2009 to 2.39 per cent in March 2010 indicating a significant change of more than two per cent, a level that would necessitate sharing of such an information.

Consequently, Sebi had initiated adjudication proceedings against the company to inquire into alleged violations of insider trading norms. The regulator issued a show cause notice to Pedriano Investments in May last year.

The company submitted a consent order application to Sebi in August 2012, while the adjudication proceedings were pending against it, and proposed to pay Rs 3.29 lakh towards settlement fees and in January this year revised the amount to Rs 6.07 lakh.

After that, the revised consent terms were placed before the High Powered Advisory Committee of Sebi. The committee recommended that the "case may be settled on payment of Rs 6.07 lakh."

Accordingly, the applicant has remitted a sum of Rs 6.07 lakh towards the settlement charges.