Seeing signs of price manipulation in SME segment: Sebi chief Buch

Sebi chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch on Monday said the capital markets regulator is seeing "signs" of price manipulation in the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) segment.

The manipulation is both at the Initial Public Offering (IPO) and also in trading, Buch said, advising caution to investors.

"We do see the signs (of price manipulation), we have the technology to do it. We are able to see certain patterns. I'd say it is still on the kitchen table, it's not yet gone into the oven," Buch said, speaking to women journalists on the sidelines of a conference here.

The capital markets regulator is still working with advisors to understand all the dimensions and analyse the data, she said, adding that if it finds some malpractices the next step may be to issue a public consultation on it.

She said the investors need to understand that the SME segment is different from the main board and it is necessary for Sebi to underline the same in terms of the rules on disclosures which are made to investors.

Regulations governing the SME segment, the disclosures, and therefore, the nature of risk are all different, she added.