Sebi to snoop on Facebook, Twitter for stock mkt probe

With an aim to use the latest technology in its probe and oversight on stock market deals, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is putting in place new software tools that will analyse discussions on social networking platforms.

Besides social networking websites like Facebook, Twitter and various blogs, the new software will also analyse traditional social networks.

Recently, a number of blogs have cropped up where members discuss stock market trends. In many cases, tips are also exchanged for ‘buy’ or ‘sell’ transactions.

The role of new software tools, along with the necessary computer hardware and high-capacity servers, will not be limited to social network analysis. “Sebi is currently planning to put in place the new software tools that would perform an array of sophisticated analyses for trading data, telephone records, financial records, social network analysis, etc,” an official said.

The regulator also aims to utilise the new software for analysis of data received from stock exchanges, depositories and banks. The new software will be integrated with DWBIS (Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence System) used extensively by the regulator in its various probes. Sebi is working on this project on priority and plans to put the new software tool in place in the next few months.

Awaits nod for phone taps
The capital market watchdog, Sebi, is not authorised to intercept calls and has been awaiting the government’s permission for years.

Only a select few enforcement agencies, including the tax department, are authorised to tap telephonic conversations for their investigations. Sebi had requested for its inclusion in this list several times. However, all its requests had been turned down, said a senior official, adding the last time was in December 2009 when the Department of Telecommunications told Sebi it was not authorised to tap phones.