Sebi imposes Rs 6 lakh fine on SRU Securities for manipulative share trading

Markets regulator Sebi has levied a fine of Rs 6 lakh on sub-broker SRU Securities for indulging in manipulative trading in the shares of Cerebra Integrated Technologies.

The order follows an investigation conducted by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) between December 2014 and January 2016.

Sebi found that the price of the scrip on December 1, 2014, opened at Rs 9.15 on the BSE and closed at Rs 19.35 on January 29, 2016. A similar trend was observed on the NSE.

Besides, the scrip reached a high of Rs 28.75 on December 15, 2015, on both the exchanges.

During the investigation, it was noted that SRU Securities had contributed to positive last-traded price (LTP) on many occasions.

"The acts of artificially increasing the price of scrip and creating a misleading appearance of trading have potential to mislead investors and the fundamental tenets of market integrity get violated with impunity due to such fraudulent acts," Sebi said.

The regulator said the dealings of the sub-broker which resulted into significant price rise were "manipulative in nature."

By doing so, the entity has violated the PFUTP (Prohibition of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices) Regulations.

"Further, by indulging in such manipulative trades as a Sebi-registered intermediary, it has failed to maintain high standards of integrity, promptitude and fairness in the conduct of its business and also failed to exercise due skill, care and diligence laid down in the code of conduct for sub-brokers," the order added.

Accordingly, a total fine of Rs 6 lakh was levied on SRU Securities.

In a separate order, Sebi imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh on Nihalchand G Kasliwal for executing fraudulent trades, which created artificial volume in the illiquid stock option segment on the BSE.

The individual was among the various entities that were indulged in execution of non-genuine trades in the stock options as they executed reversal of trades with same entities on the same day.

Securities and Exchange Board of India ( SEBI )