Bajpai denies GTB probe reports

The Securities and Exchange Board India (Sebi) chairman G N Bajpai on Monday denied reports of the government seeking clarification from the market regulator on alleged insider trading in the Global Trust Bank (GTB) stock.

Bajpai said the regulator has not received any written communication from the government on the issue.

He was speaking on the sidelines of the inauguration of the electronic issuer interface facility at the National Stock Exchange (NSE).

Bajpai said Sebi has launched a full-fledged probe into the trading in the GTB stock, including alleged insider trading, prior to the bank being placed under moratorium and the announcement of a merger.

"We have been keeping a close watch on the scrip and have called for trading data as part of the investigation," Bajpai said. He, however, did not place any timeframe for completing the probe.

Meanwhile, Kirit Somaiya, former member of Parliament and convenor of the BJP investors' cell, has demanded an equiry by the regulatory body into the alleged insider trading in the scrip.

"We demand that all the trades by a major investor group, which took place due to the passing of the sensitive information, should be struck down. It is clear from the trading data that a single investor who got the prior information of the development offloaded its holding just four working days before the announcement of the moratorium and the merger."

Between July 19 and July 23, the GTB scrip witnessed heavy delivery-based transactions both on the NSE and the BSE.

During the period, 68,27,466 shares were delivered on the NSE, while 19,83,773 stocks changed hands on the BSE.

The government had placed the ailing private sector bank under a three-month moratorium on July 24 and later initiated its merger with the Oriental Bank of Commerce.