Sebi claims Sanjiv Bhasin 'kingpin' in front-running case

Mint

4 days ago

Mumbai: The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), during a hearing in the Securities Appellate Tribunal on Friday, alleged that Sanjiv Bhasin, former director of IIFL Securities, was the 'kingpin' in a front-running and market manipulation case.
'It's fairly a gross case... The appellant (Sanjiv Bhasin) is perhaps tactically the actual kingpin and mastermind behind the whole thing,' Shiraz Rustomjee, senior counsel for Sebi, said during a hearing in the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT).
After the hearing, the tribunal directed Bhasin to deposit ₹ 1 crore in favour of Sebi. 'In our view, the end of justice would be met by directing the appellant (Bhasin) to deposit a sum of ₹ 1 crore in a fixed deposit with lien mark in favour of Sebi,' the SAT bench said in its order.
Sebi's comment follows a petition filed by Sanjiv Bhasin in the SAT challenging the market regulator's 17 June order that alleged that Bhasin was involved in front-running and stock manipulation.
Front-running refers to trading of stock or any other financial asset by a broker who has insider knowledge of a future transaction that is about to affect its price.
The market regulator, in its order, held that Bhasin first bought the securities himself and later recommended them to the public on news channels, including Zee Business, ET Now, and IIFL's Telegram channel, in violation of Sebi's Research Analyst Regulations.
The Sebi had ordered the freezing of Bhasin's bank accounts and securities and directed him, along with others, to jointly and severally impound alleged gains of ₹ 11.7 crore—an amount Bhasin claimed was 'unsustainable' and has caused significant financial hardship.
Bhasin, along with his cousin Lalit Bhasin other entities, were also barred from accessing capital markets.
Vikram Nankani, appearing for Sanjiv Bhasin, denying the allegations, said, 'How they have gone about calculating this figure, which is completely based on imagination. This (deposit amount) ₹ 11.37 crores has really no basis.'
Bhasin, in his 28-page plea, argued that he received no direct monetary benefit and that no funds flowed into his account from the transactions in question.
He termed the Sebi order 'excessive, disproportionate and based on erroneous computation,' stating that some profits included in SEBI's calculation were from stocks neither recommended nor traded with the alleged intent.
The case is part of Sebi's broader crackdown on media-linked market manipulation and financial advice driven by undisclosed conflicts of interest.