Former director of NSEL Hariharan Vaidyalingam was barred by SEBI on Wednesday from the securities market for seven years for insider-trading in the shares of Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) following the NSEL fiasco.
MCX was a group company of Financial Technologies (FTIL), which also promoted NSEL.
In August 2017, SEBI had passed an interim order against eight persons, including Vaidyalingam, and also directed impounding the losses averted by them in the trading of MCX shares. Those impounded by SEBI have been found guilty by the regulator for trading in MCX shares with prior information about the happenings at NSEL. NSEL suspended its trading in July 2013 following a payment crisis. Both the MCX and the NSEL were part of the FTIL group. FTIL has now changed its name to 63 Moons Technologies.
It has been established that Vaidyalingam as an insider sold MCX shares when in possession of unpublished price sensitive information and violated norms that prohibit insider-trading. “Insider trading is a serious violation and can cause severe damage to public confidence in the securities market. An act of insider trading, therefore, has to be viewed strictly irrespective of its ultimate outcome for the person indulging in the same,” SEBO order said.
SEBI has also directed that a copy of the ruling be forwarded to the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the US Securities and Exchange Commission since Vaidyalingam is currently working in Singapore.