Sebi penalises Crude Oil Tipswala, 3 individuals for unregistered services

Sebi on Wednesday levied a fine of Rs 3 lakh on Crude Oil Tipswala (COT) and three individuals for providing investment advisory services without market regulator's authorisation.

In addition, COT and the three individuals were restrained from the securities markets for six months.

The order came after Sebi issued a show cause notice in June to COT, Jitendra Kumar Ganeshlal Bata, Goutam Sarvar and Mukeshbhai Ramanbhai Muniya for providing investment advisory services without obtaining registration from Sebi in violation of IA (Investment Advisers) norms.

COT, Jitendra Kumar Ganeshlal Bata, Goutam Sarvar and Mukeshbhai Ramanbhai Muniya are collectively referred to as 'noticees'.

The amount of fees collected by the noticees was Rs 39.26 lakh during June 2016-2021, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said in the final order.

Therefore, the regulator imposed a fine of Rs 3 lakh on the noticees for violating market norms, it added.

In its order, Sebi directed the noticees to refund within three months the money received from the investors as fees in respect of their unregistered investment advisory activities.

They have also been prohibited from accessing as well as dealing in the securities markets for a period of six months from the date of this order or till the expiry of six months from date of completion of refunds to clients along with depositing of balance amounts, whichever is later.

In addition, they shall not undertake investment advisory services or any activity in the securities markets without obtaining a certificate of registration from Sebi, either directly or indirectly, during or after the expiry of the debarment period, the order said.

Meanwhile, in a separate order, Sebi slapped fines totalling Rs 10 lakh on two entities for violating regulatory norms in the matter of First Future and Stocks Pvt Ltd and Chennai Commodities.

The order came after Sebi conducted an inspection of the books of accounts and other records of First Futures and Stocks Pvt Ltd (FFSPL) and Chennai Commodities.

The inspection was conducted during April 2019 to September 2020 period.

In another order, the regulator levied a fine of Rs 2 lakh on an entity for violating market norms in the matter of Maheshwari Datamatics Pvt Ltd (MDPL).

MDPL is a Sebi-registered registrar to an issue and share transfer agent (RTA).

The order came after Sebi had conducted an inspection of the books and accounts and other records of MDPL.

The period of inspection was from April 2018 to November 2019.