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Sebi bars Ketan Parekh entities from taking fresh business

Exactly a week after leading stock broker Ketan Parekh's arrest, the Securities and Exchange Board of India has finally cracked down on his broking and merchant banking entities by barring them from taking up fresh business with immediate effect.

The capital market regulator has barred four firms from doing fresh transactions following allegations of price manipulations in various scrips, including his favourite 'ICE' stocks.

"We have passed the necessary orders against Triumph Securities, Triumph International, N H Securities and Classic Share and Stock Ltd restraining them from picking up fresh business with immediate effect," Sebi sources said in Bombay on Thursday.

Prima facie, the securities firms were found to be involved in the price manipulation and orders were issued under section 11 B of the Sebi act in the interest of investors, they said.

The securities firms would be heard at post decisional hearing on April 16, sources added.

Capital market regulator had looked into the allegations of price manipulation by Parekh, now in CBI custody in connection with the Rs 1.37 billion Bank of India pay order scam.

Meanwhile, Sebi sources said the investigations into the price manipulation in the scrip of Global Trust Bank, which on Wednesday called off its merger proposal with UTI Bank, were continuing.

Sebi has already submitted an interim report to Reserve Bank of India last week and is now expected to present its final report on manipulations in prices of GTB scrip by mid-April.

The regulator is looking into the scrip movement prior to October, 2000.

According to on-going investigations, Sebi has found that Parekh had additional holdings in GTB scrip by routing his transactions through three investment firms of a consumer goods company based in Ahmedabad and another investment firm of a Delhi-based pharmaceutical company, sources said.

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