Sebi collects ₹75 cr in penalty for violations, appeals against its orders fall

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) collected about ₹75 crore in penalties for unfair trade practices in FY24, even as appeals against its orders declined more than 30% in the financial year ended 31 March.

The annual report of the market regulator, released on Friday, showed that the number of appeals filed in FY24 against its orders was 821, lower than 1,192 appeals in the previous financial year. The report pointed out that the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) disposed of 730 appeals in FY24, versus 1,131 disposals in 2022-23.

“Out of the 730 disposals, 380 appeals (52%) were dismissed, 157 appeals (21.5%) were allowed and 57 appeals (7.8%) were remanded for fresh consideration,” the Sebi report said.

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The Sebi annual report further said that it had completed adjudication proceedings against 1,460 entities through 994 orders. Sebi collected a penalty of ₹74.88 crore from 796 entities for violations of the regulations against fraudulent and unfair trade practices. It also completed adjudication against 55 entities for engaging in insider trading, leading to penalties worth ₹5.07 crore.

The report also emphasized that in FY24, Sebi passed 85 adjudication orders against registered intermediaries, of which a majority pertained to brokers (33), followed by investment advisers (16), and the remainder were against various other intermediaries/ institutions.

The report stated that 1,419 cases were filed, and 1,166 cases were disposed of across various judicial fora in FY24. As of March 31, as many as 4,190 cases were pending at different stages before various judicial fora.

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Pending cases

As on March 31, there were 519 cases pending before the Supreme Court and 49 disposed; out of which 38 (77.5%) cases were disposed in favour and 11 (22.5%) were disposed of against Sebi, the report said.

The report also highlighted that about 14,198 complaints were resolved during 2023-24, compared to 9,426 during the previous year. “As on March 31, there were 887 complaints pending with the stock exchanges as against 590 pending as on March 31, 2023,” the report stated.

“342 cases pertaining to various violations of securities laws were taken up for investigation and 197 cases were completed. A total penalty amounting to ₹74.66 crore was imposed against various securities market violations during the year,” the report said.

Sebi elaborated that it initiated inspection of 25 mutual funds, their respective registrars, and share transfer agents. It also initiated inspection against 13 portfolio managers.