Sebi slaps Rs 17 lakh fine on four entities for violating market norms

New Delhi: Regulator Sebi Thursday slapped a total fine of Rs 17 lakh on four entities, including a director and promoter of Pithampur Steels for violating securities norms by carrying out off-market transfer of shares of the firm without payment. The regulator also fined the promoter and director of Pithampur Steels Ltd (PSL) for not disclosing the change in the shareholding of the company to the exchanges within the stipulated time. In an order, Sebi said it had conducted an investigation into alleged violations by the entities from April to September 2010. The regulator found that promoter of PSL, Yard Securities had transferred 25,000 shares in off-market transaction to one Nitin Sharma and 1 lakh shares to Highlight Leafin Pvt Ltd in September 2010 without the receipt of consideration. Sebi said the transfer of shares in off-market deal, outside the stock exchange mechanism, against no consideration is in contravention of provisions of SCRA (Securities and Contracts (Regulation) Act). [caption id=“attachment_4310813” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Sebi logo. Pic courtesy: IBNLive[/caption] In April 2010, director Sachin Sharma received 87,200 shares through off-market transfers, regulator said. The transfer of shares changed the shareholding of Yard Securities by more than 2 percent and receipt of 87,200 shares by Sachin Sharma was more than threshold of 25,000, which triggers the disclosures requirement. However, both failed to do so and violated PIT (Prohibition of Insider Trading) norms, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said. Accordingly, Sebi imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh each on Yard Securities along with Nitin Sharma and Highlight Leafin Pvt Ltd for violation of SCRA norms Sachin Sharma and Yard Securities were fined Rs 1 lakh for contravening PIT regulations. In a separate order, Sebi fined two individuals Rs 6 lakh for carrying out investment advisory services without registration.