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April 3, 2001
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Money > Reuters > Report April 3, 2001 |
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Sinha 'disgusted' with capital markets scandalFinance Minister Yashwant Sinha is determined to get to the root of the country's worst stock market crisis in nearly a decade and does not care if the investigation makes shares rise or fall, a newspaper said on Tuesday. "I am not concerned about market movements. I am only concerned about the integrity of the market," the daily quoted Sinha as saying. He said he was "absolutely disgusted" by the blizzard of insider trading and price manipulation scandals and said he "would not spare anyone who has indulged in malpractices". The minister's comments came amid a crisis in the markets. Last Friday, police arrested a leading broker after a state-owned bank said it was defrauded of nearly $30 million. The benchmark Bombay Stock Exchange sensitive index has plunged around 16 per cent since the presentation of a market- friendly budget on February 28. The dive has largely been attributed to market manipulation. Last month, brokers defaulted on payments and tax authorities raided brokers accused of insider trading. Police officials say the alleged fraud could reach Rs 8 billion. The crisis is the worst faced by Indian equity markets since 1992 when Harshad Mehta, nicknamed the "Big Bull", was involved in a $1.3 billion stock market scam. Sinha said he was determined to get to the heart of the problem and did not care if the investigation "makes the market go up or down". The minister added that he would not allow the crisis to derail the government's planned economic reforms. "Ultimately it is success on the economic front which will decide the political fortunes of the ruling alliance so nobody in the government is in any doubt about the importance of reforms," he said. He said he was waiting for a report by market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on the stock market's fall since the budget. He said he would assess Sebi's performance after getting the report, which is due by April 15. "That will be the basis for action," he said.
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