Sebi Offers To Help Rbi Probe Suspect Finance Companies
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) may join hands with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to probe non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) which have been placed on the central banks watchlist.
Sebi chairman D R Mehta yesterday said the stockmarkets regulator will get in touch with the RBI on the issue. If the probe extends to issues that come under Sebis jurisdiction, such as violation of mutual fund norms etc, Sebi will co-operate with the RBI in the investigations, he added.
The Sebi board, which met here to ratify the annual report, also considered a note on CRB Caps yesterday. The board decided to probe if there was a systemic failure, and suggest measures to plug the loopholes.
Mehta later told reporters that Sebi could not be faulted for the CRB collapse. However, he did not comment on the role of the government or the RBI.
Mehta reiterated that the regulation of NBFCs does not fall under Sebis jurisdiction. But Sebi was the only regulatory authority to take action against CRB Caps when it cancelled its merchant banking licence, he pointed out.
Press Trust of India adds: Sebi yesterday asked brokers of all stock exchanges to treat shares of all CRB group companies as bad delivery. The markets watchdog said the delivery of shares of the CRB group pertaining to pay-out on May 31, 1997, would be treated as bad delivery and payment would be accordingly reversed.
Sebi has also issued a list of 40 firms floated by CR Bhansali, including Global Finance, CRB Capital Markets, CRB Securities, Shree Bhikshu Foundations, R K Credit Company, CRB Share Cus-todian, Chamatkar Investments, CRB Corp, Ravitej Granites and CRB Asset Management.
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Call to lift curb on JVG Finance share allotment
The merchant bankers to the Rs 45 crore JVG Finance public issue have asked Sebi to relax its 60-day moratorium on the company from allotting shares to investors. The issue, which concluded in April 1997, commanded a high premium of Rs 80 per share.
Soon after the issue closed, Sebi had restrained JVG Finance from allotting shares to the subscribers of its public offer since the Reserve Bank of India had not taken a decision on the companys application for registration. The lead managers to the issue included Prudential Capital Markets and Vijaya Bank.