Mansun Consultancy, P R Sundar settle case with market regulator Sebi

Mansun Consultancy and its promoters have settled with capital markets regulator Sebi a case on alleged violation of investment advisers norms.

Mansun and its promoters/directors -- P R Sundar and Mangayarkarasi Sundar -- paid Rs 15.60 lakh each towards the settlement charges, as per a Sebi order on Thursday.

Besides, the terms of the settlement also included the disgorgement of the fees collected by Mansun, along with the 12 per cent per annum interest -- from June 2020 till February 2023 -- of Rs 6.07 crore.

In the revised settlement terms, the applicants proposed that Mansun, PR Sundar and Mangayarkarasi "shall refrain from buying, selling or otherwise dealing in securities in India for a period of one year from the date of passing of the settlement order".

"The Applicants shall refrain from buying, selling or otherwise dealing in securities markets for a period of one year from the date of passing of the settlement order," Sebi's Chief General Manager Anitha Anoop, said in the order.

The applicants have proposed to settle the pending proceedings without admitting or denying the findings of fact and conclusions of law, through a settlement order, as per the regulator.

The regulator issued a show cause notice (SCN) and a supplementary SCN in May 2022 and November 2022, respectively, to the entities for the alleged violations of IA (Investment Advisers) regulations.

As per the order, Sebi received two references alleging that P R Sundar was providing advisory services without obtaining the requisite registration from the regulator.

Upon examination, it was observed that P R Sundar was running the website through which he was offering various packages for providing advisory services.

On further enquiry, it was alleged that the recommendations related to purchasing, selling and dealing in securities were communicated to the clients by Mansun fall under the category of 'investment advice', Sebi said.

It was also alleged that the applicants have carried out investment advisory activities without obtaining registration from the regulator and allegedly violated the IA norms.

The advisory fees collected by Mansun were Rs 4.36 crore and Rs 23.53 lakh, respectively, in its bank account, the regulator added.