NSE co-location case: Sebi penalises OPG Securities and 3 others

Sebi on Thursday imposed a penalty of over Rs 5 crore on OPG Securities and three others in the NSE’s co-location case. Besides OPG, those facing penalty are — Sanjay Gupta, Sangeeta Gupta and Om Prakash Gupta. 

They were directors of OPG Securities during the time. In its 77-page order, Sebi said OPG, a trading member of NSE, used the bourse’s system to its advantage.

OPG Securities repeatedly connected to the secondary server almost on a daily basis without valid reasons and ignored NSE''s warning or advisories, for the purpose of gaining an unfair advantage over other trading members, Sebi said.

The stock broker can be stated to have indulged in ''unfair trade practice'' in securities which is prohibited under the PFUTP (Prohibition of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices) Regulations, it added.

Further, the regulator said the directors of OPG Securities were vicariously liable for the acts of omissions or commissions of the trading member.

Accordingly, the regulator levied a fine totalling Rs 5 crore on the four entities. Besides, Rs 10 lakh penalty each has been imposed on OPG Securities and Sanjay Gupta.

In April 2019, Sebi had barred OPG Securities and its three directors from accessing the securities market for five years and had asked them to disgorge illegal gains of more than Rs 15 crore in the NSE co-location facility case.