Sebi to refer suspect cases to I-T dept

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has decided to refer the recently unearthed manipulation cases in the derivatives market to the income-tax department.

It has also decided to initiate adjudication proceedings against all the identified brokers. By passing on the information to income tax department, the regulator wants to send a clear signal that manipulation could prove to be costly.

According to sources close to development, the market regulator will be seeking a probe into the fictitious gains and losses booked under the F&O segment for tax evasion purposes.

The suspect deals will be closely scrutinised. Most of the brokers chose to trade in those derivatives where the underlying securities were illiquid for a considerable period of time.

The market players had resorted to tax evasion last year as well. The income tax department tracked down transactions in the penny stocks which were grossly manipulated to help individuals bring in their unaccounted funds to the mainstream financial system.

According to a rough estimates by the department, revenues worth Rs 200-300 crores is lost every year as no tax is levied on long-term capital gains and short-term gains tax is pegged at only 10 per cent, official sources said.

On Tuesday, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) had identified 24 market players, including 14 brokers and 10 clients, which were involved in manipulating the derivatives segment on the National Stock Exchange (NSE).

The players against whom "cease and desist" orders have been issued included Indiabulls Securities, Angel Capital, SMC Global Capital and Khandwala Financial Services. Indiabulls later claimed that some clients had executed such trades online.

This is the first time that such an order has been passed in the derivatives trading segment, which has been attracting huge volumes in recent months, as the average daily turnover is around Rs 40,000 crore.