Sebi Attaches Rs 500 crore Assets of Defaulting Companies

Market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India has seized and attached assets worth about Rs 500 crore of defaulting companies in the past two months. The move came after it was given new powers that included freezing bank accounts and attaching properties of firms that fail to comply with its rules.

"Since the search and seizure order has been in place, we have passed orders to recover funds worth more than Rs 500 crore," Sebi chairman U K Sinha said at Artha 2013, the capital market summit organized by the Indian School of Business. These include frozen bank accounts and also attached properties, he said.

The regulatory body chief also said there was barely any chance of the Rs 5,600-crore NSEL scam that happened in the commodities market, spilling over into the equities and affecting investors. "I would like to assure you that we are very conscious that the entity we regulate (MCX Stock Exchange) is thoroughly ring-fenced," Sinha said. 

NSEL, MCX-SX and MCX, all belong to the Financial Technologies (FTIL) group and the Sebi chief was replying to media queries about market's fears that troubles at NSEL could also affect trading on MCX-SX.

Sinha also pointed out that the whole top management at MCX-SX has been replaced with a new one since the NSEL scam broke on July 31. He said the top deck at the stock exchange was replaced, and two public interest directors, who are also Sebi nominees, joined the board.

Times of India, New Delhi, 24-11-2013