Sebi has slapped a penalty of Rs 25 lakh on Unique Vision Financial Advisory and its two directors for carrying out portfolio management activities without getting registered with the regulator and soliciting money from the public.
A Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) probe found the company had collected around Rs 1.85 crore from about 70 investors since 2011 for investing in share market through schemes offering return on investment.
The firm did not obtain certificate of registration from the Sebi to act as a portfolio manager.
The company and its directors have "admitted that the money collected was used in the share market and international forex market, wherein, losses were incurred and it was also submitted that the money of the investors was used for rotation," Sebi said.
In this regard, the watchdog had in January last year asked the company to 'cease and desist' from acting as a portfolio manager and restrain itself from soliciting any funds from investors.
Sebi also found that the firm had issued post-dated cheques toward refunds as a guarantee for repayment of principal amount invested which were bounced.
"Such activities of unregistered intermediaries in the securities market seriously compromise the regulatory framework and are detrimental to the interest of investors in securities market," the regulator said.
The entities have "committed serious illegalities by acting as Portfolio Manager without obtaining a Certificate of Registration from Sebi," it added.
Accordingly, a fine of Rs 25 lakh has been imposed on the company and its two directors -- Chandrakant Shamrao Dhole and Ravindra Shankar Kaurav.
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