Karvy Stock Broking scandal: Sebi unlikely to provide relief to lenders

SAT has directed Sebi to pass an order on the matter by December 12. Sebi's circular in June had said clients' securities that were pledged must be unpledged and returned to them

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is unlikely to provide any relief to the four embattled financial institutions that had lent to Karvy Stock Broking, which, in turn, had placed client securities as collateral.

Following the directions of the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT), Sebi last week gave a hearing to HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, and Bajaj Finance in the matter involving transferring securities that were unlawfully pledged from the accounts of Karvy’s clients. Sources said the regulator was likely to hold the lenders accountable for failing to do due diligence on the ownership of the securities that