Sebi freezes around 2,000 demat accounts; starts recovering dues

Markets regulator Sebi’s efforts to recover dues from various defaulters and fraudsters through attachment and other proceedings seem to have begun yielding results, as payments have begun to trickle in.

However, nearly 2,000 demat accounts of individuals and companies still stand frozen for violations of various securities laws and default in penalty payments under orders by the capital markets regulator, shows data available with two depositories CDSL and NSDL.

More than 1,700 demat accounts have been frozen by Central Depository Services Ltd (CDSL) as on July 31, out of which nearly 400 accounts have been frozen as part of Sebi’s attachment proceedings against entities which have defaulted on paying dues, including penalties imposed on them.

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Besides, National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL) has frozen accounts of over 1,900 accounts under Sebi orders. Together, NSDL and CDSL maintain close to 2.2 crore accounts.

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Securities like shares, debentures, bonds of investors are held in electronic form (demat form) at the depositories.

Meanwhile, Sebi’s attachment proceedings to recover penalties from several entities seem to be yielding results as the market regulator has been able to collect nearly Rs 7 crore from various defaulters in some cases recently.

Earlier this year, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) began passing orders to defreeze of bank accounts and demat accounts of entities which made the payment of outstanding dues.

So far, the market watchdog has passed 19 such orders.

The capital markets watchdog began initiating attachment proceedings against defaulters, including individuals and companies, in October last as per the greater powers granted to it through an ordinance promulgated by the government.

Since then, the Sebi has launched nearly 1,400 attachment proceedings for recovery of penalties imposed in as many as 393 cases. These proceedings involve attachment of bank accounts, movable and immovable properties, shares and debentures, among others.

The markets regulator is looking to recover penalties aggregating to nearly Rs 1,700 crore imposed on various entities.

PTI