Capital markets watchdog Securities and Exchange Board of India, SEBI has fixed one-year target for completion of all its investigations, while sharply focusing on cases involving bigger offences. In an interview to PTI, SEBI Chairman U K Sinha said, this 12-month target would apply to all the cases where an investigation has been initiated this year onward. At the same time, the SEBI has expedited its probe into all long-pending cases and their numbers have been brought down drastically.Mr Sinha said, there are 221 investigations pending with SEBI right now. Out of these, there are only 20 cases that are more than three-year old and 86 cases are of one year or less. The SEBI chief also gave a stern warning to those indulging in bigger offences, saying that such cases were being dealt with extra focus and most of the smaller offences were being prevented very effectively by a robust surveillance system put in place at the regulatory authority. He said, the surveillance mechanism is also ensuring a continuous pipeline of cases for further follow-ups including by way of investigations.SEBI has also decided to tighten the regulatory noose around the willful defaulters by barring them form raising funds through stock markets and other securities. To facilitate such restrictions willfully defaulted, the Reserve Bank of India, RBI is also exploring ways to share details of these defaulters with SEBI on a real time basis. SEBI Chairman said that all efforts will be taken to bar these defaulters to raise money from the markets. The proposal has come against the backdrop of spiraling bad loans in the banking system, especially fueled by increasing number of willful defaulters. As per RBI's proposal, such defaulters can be barred from raising funds through capital markets.
News On AIR | September 1, 2014 10:39 AM
SEBI sets one-year target to complete probe