SEBI bans Wishworth Financial Services from securities market for 4 years

Sebi on Friday barred Wishworth Financial Services and their proprietors Pankaj Khanchandani and Dheeraj Kapoor from the securities markets for four years and directed them to refund the money collected through unauthorised investment advisory services.

A complaint filed on October 24, 2017, had alleged that Wishworth was offering financial investment plans with assured returns.

Pursuant to the receipt of the complaint, Sebi conducted an examination in the matter and thereafter issued a show cause notice dated January 20, 2022 to the noticees.

The regulator found that the noticees -- Wishworth and their proprietors -- were engaged in the business of providing investment advice to their clients for consideration and thus acting as investment adviser.

 

They were involved in such investment advisory activities without obtaining a certificate of registration from the regulator, which is in violation of the provisions of Investment Adviser (IA) rules, the Securities and Exchange Board of India said in its order.

Through such services, they had received a total amount of over Rs 10 crore from July 2017 to February 2020 through unregistered investment advisory services, it added.

Accordingly, Sebi said, the "noticees shall within a period of three months... jointly and severally, refund the money received from any complaints/investors, as fees or consideration or in any other form, in respect of their unregistered advisory activities".

Also, they have been barred from accessing the securities markets for four years or till the expiry of four years from the date of completion of refunds to investors, whichever is later.

In a separate order, the regulator levied a fine of Rs 11 lakh on four entities for violating insider trading norms in the matter of SRS Ltd.

The order came after Sebi conducted a probe with respect to trading in the scrip of SRS Ltd during the period February 2016 to June 2017.