Sebi keeps constant vigil to check market manipulation: Govt

New Delhi: Market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is maintaining a constant vigil to check any market manipulation by banned stock brokers, Parliament was informed on Friday.

Sebi maintains a constant vigil, and in case of any abnormality, takes appropriate action against the concerned entities, Minister of State for Finance Arjun Ram Meghwal said in a written reply to Lok Sabha. The regulator has also been conducting regular meetings with officials of stock exchanges and depositories, to advise them to step up their own surveillance measures to initiate expeditious demonstrative action in order to protect investors’ interest and ensure orderly functioning of the stock market.

Sebi has informed that no such instances have been observed by Sebi, wherein a banned stock broker in collaboration with others, has illegally manipulated the stock markets. Therefore, Sebi has not conducted any investigation in this regard, Meghwal said. To a separate question, the minister said the Sebi has not received any complaint about listed companies refusing to pay dividend to shareholders.

Sebi has informed that no such instances have been observed by Sebi, wherein a banned stock broker in collaboration with others, has illegally manipulated the stock markets. Therefore, Sebi has not conducted any investigation in this regard, Meghwal said. To a separate question, the minister said the Sebi has not received any complaint about listed companies refusing to pay dividend to shareholders.

The Sebi has informed that it has not received any specific complaints about listed companies refusing to pay dividend, Meghwal added. According to norms, the top 500 listed companies are required to disclose their dividend distribution policies in their annual reports as well as on their websites.

The top 500 companies are based on market capitalization.
Under the Companies Act, a company is empowered to take decision on payment of dividend and government has no role in it. The regulator has also tightened norms for taking exposure in the Indian capital markets via participatory notes, as part of its efforts to ensure transparency.

Currency derivatives OI turnover at BSE crosses $ bn

Meanwhile, currency derivatives open interest (OI) turnover at BSE on Friday crossed $2 billion (about Rs 13,400 crore) mark. The open interest number of contracts stood at 19,44,203 in the previous session, with turnover at Rs 10,189.79 crore, as per data available with the BSE. Currency derivative contracts allow investors to take position on change in the foreign exchange rates between pairs of two currencies, such as rupee and dollar. Open interest is commonly associated with the futures and options markets, where the number of existing contracts changes from day to day.

Source: PTI