General Insurance too Paid Rs1.23 Crore as Settlement to SEBI for Insider Trading Violations in Axis Bank Shares

Moneylife: New Delhi: Saturday, 05 September 2020.

General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC Re) had also paid a whopping Rs1.23 crore as settlement for violating insider trading norms of market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). The matter is related with Axis Bank Ltd, which has GIC and three other state-run insurers as promoters.

Last year in October, SEBI had issued a notice of settlement to GIC Re after finding that the insurer had delayed in making disclosures in terms of Regulation 7(2)(a) of the SEBI (Prohibition of Insider Trading) Regulations 2015, in respect of change in its shareholding in Axis Bank. SEBI had asked GIC to pay Rs1.23 crore as settlement for violation of insider trading norms.

On 20 November 2019, GIC Re filed an application for settlement and paid Rs1.23 crore. SEBI's two wholetime members, SK Mohanty and Anant Barua considered the application and accepted the settlement from GIC after receiving the payment of Rs1.23 crore. 

As reported by Moneylife, in January this year, New India Assurance Co Ltd also paid Rs62.68 lakh to settle insider trading regulations violations. New India Assurance paid this amount from the shareholders’ fund, reveals a reply received under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

Interestingly, New India Assurance paid the settlement amount from its shareholders’ fund but refused to divulge any information on whether or not this matter was discussed and approved by its board.

In the case of GIC Re, it is not known from where the penalty amount was sourced or whether it has taken any action against officials responsible for this delay in compliance reporting. We sent an email to GIC Re officials and would update this article as and when we receive any information from them.

What is more shocking in New India Assurance matter is that, despite paying Rs62.68 lakh as settlement for the violation of insider trading norms, the insurer neither carried out any internal inquiry or investigation to fix accountability and responsibly for this lapse, nor was there any action against any official, the RTI reply reveals.