Sebi imposes fines on two M&M employees for insider trading

Mumbai: Capital market regulator Sebi has imposed fines on two employees of Mahindra & Mahindra for trading in the automaker's shares during restricted periods.

Incidentally, the probe was initiated after Mahindra & Mahindra itself informed Sebi about the violations by the two employees. In two separate orders today, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has imposed a penalty of Rs 2 lakh on Gopalan Murali and Rs 4 lakh on Pavan Kumar Sodani -- both designated employees of Mahindra & Mahindra -- for violation of 'prohibition of insider trading' regulations. The regulator found that Murali and Sodani had dealt in the shares of Mahindra & Mahindra when the trading window was closed for declaration of unaudited financial results of the company for the quarter ended on December 31, 2012. It also observed that both had traded in the scrip for more than Rs 5 lakh in value and entered into opposite transactions within 6 months following the prior transaction. As per Sebi norms, opposite transaction refer to selling or buying any number of shares during the next 6 months following the prior transaction.

In the similar-worded orders, Sebi said that Murali and Sodani "being the designated employee of the company had transacted in the shares of Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd during the window closure period and also had entered into opposite transaction within six months from the prior transaction which was in complete violation of...the Model Code of Conduct...of the PIT Regulations". In the case of Sodani, Sebi also noted as his dealings in the firm's shares amounted to more than Rs 5 lakh, he was required to make necessary disclosures to the company and to the stock exchanges within two days of the transaction, which he failed to do. In April 2013, Mahindra & Mahindra had informed Sebi that few of its employees had dealt in the company shares when the trading window was closed for declaration of unaudited financial results for the quarter ended on December 31, 2012. Thereafter, Sebi had begun a probe into the irregularity in trading in the shares of the company for the period January 1, 2013 to February 9, 2013.