Piramal Investment Advisory Services, 4 others settle case with Sebi

NEW DELHI: Piramal Investment Advisory Services and four individuals on Wednesday settled a probe by markets regulator Sebi into alleged violation of alternative investment fund (AIF) rules after paying Rs 76.5 lakh towards settlement charges.

The other individuals who settled the case are: Leonard Peter D'Souza, Parvez Keki Umrigar, Rajesh Ratanlal Laddha and Jayesh Ramniklal Desai. These individuals were directors on the board of Piramal Investment Advisory Services, according to Sebi.

The regulator agreed to settle proposed adjudication proceedings in the case, pertaining to alleged violation of various provisions of the AIF Regulation, after it was approached by these entities with a plea under the settlement regulations.

In a settlement order, Sebi disposed of the adjudication proceedings initiated against the applicants issued through show cause notice issued in September 2019 and supplementary show-cause notice issued in October 2020, Sebi said in a settlement order.

The regulator had conducted an inspection to examine the compliance of Piramal Investment Opportunities Fund (PIOF) with the regulatory requirements as prescribed under the provisions of AIF rules during the period from September 2013 to January 2015.

It was observed that PIOF was established as a Category II Alternative Investment Fund under the AIF Regulations, and Piramal Investment Advisory Services was the sponsor and investment advisor of PIOF.

Pursuant to this, the markets regulator had initiated the proceedings and issued a show cause notices (SCNs) to the entities. In the SCNs, it was alleged that the applicants have violated the provisions of AIF rules, the order mentioned.

Pending adjudication proceedings commenced by the SCNs, the entities had filed settlement applications proposed to settle the adjudication proceedings, without admitting or denying the findings of fact and conclusions of law, through a settlement order.

The adjudication proceedings initiated against the applicants have been settled on a payment of Rs 76.5 lakh, the regulator noted.

In a separate order, Sebi has disposed of the adjudication proceedings initiated against Vipul Thakkar in case related to alleged insider trading after paying Rs 12.75 lakh.

Thakkar, who was also the compliance officer of Bliss GVS Pharma, was mandated to close the trading window during the unpublished price-sensitive information (UPSI) as per the provisions of insider trading rules. However, it was alleged that he failed to do so.

By doing so, Thakkar allegedly violated minimum "standards for code of conduct to regulate, monitor and report trading by insiders" as specified under the insider trading rules.

The regulator had conducted an investigation into the suspected insider trading by certain persons/entities in the scrip of Bliss GVS Pharma Ltd on the basis of UPSI in 2015.