Sebi penalises NSE, BSE for laxity in Karvy Stock Broking case

Brokerage misused securities worth Rs 2,300 crore belonging to more than 95,000 clients, says regulator

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has slapped a penalty of Rs 3 crore on the BSE and Rs 2 crore on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) for “laxity” in detecting misconduct by Karvy Stock Broking (KSBL).

The Hyderabad-based broking outfit misused securities worth Rs 2,300 crore belonging to over 95,000 clients through unauthorised pledging. These funds were used by the brokerage and its group entities to raise Rs 851 crore from eight banks.

This marks a rare instance where the regulator has charged stock exchanges –considered to be the first-level regulators – for the misconduct of a broker.

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