Sebi combs social media to track insider trading

Regulator scours platforms to establish link between traders and those who share info

A few months ago, a 65-year-old woman bought an unusually high quantity of shares in company just ahead of an important corporate announcement. The trade by this infrequent investor raised red flags in the surveillance system at the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), which suspected the trade was based on insider information. A challenge before the markets regulator was to establish the connection. After probing all conventional mediums, Sebi could finally trace a link between the woman and an investment banker, who allegedly passed on the "unpublished price sensitive information (UPSI)" to her through a matrimony application. Sebi