New Delhi: Sebi on Thursday said it will launch Unified Payments Interface as an alternative payment option for retail investors, buying shares in a public issue, in a phased manner from January 1 next year, which will cut listing time for an IPO to three days from six at present.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has found that a Sahara group firm has raised over Rs 14,000 crore in violation of rules and ordered the company and its then directors, including Subrata Roy, to refund the money with 15 per cent annual interest.

The market regulator has also barred the company, Subrata Roy and four other individuals from accessing and dealing in the securities market for a period of four years from the date of completion of refunds to investors.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has barred Sahara India Commercial Corporation (SICCL), its chief Subrata Roy Sahara and 13 other persons from dealing in the securities market for a period of four years, directly or indirectly, for allegedly breaching securities norms by raising money from the market through optionally fully convertible debentures (OFCDs).

Sebi has asked over a dozen suspected shell companies to extend cooperation to ensure completion of forensic audits in a time-bound manner, failing which they would face stringent trading curbs. The forensic audit is being conducted by independent auditors appointed by stock exchange on the direction of the markets watchdog. Independent directors have been mandated to conduct forensic audits for verification of credentials or fundamentals of such companies.

Markets regulator Sebi Friday confirmed the interim directions passed earlier against Nu Tek India Ltd (NTIL) that features amongst the 331 suspected shell firms, for misrepresenting books of accounts. The regulator said, it “hereby confirms the directions issued vide interim order dated October 9, 2017” and added that before passing final order in the matter, Nu Tek will be given an opportunity to file a reply and appear for hearing on the findings of forensic auditor.

The National Stock Exchange (NSE) has received from the regulator approval to launch 25 metric tonnes copper contracts on its platform, an exchange statement said.

NSE, which launched gold and silver contracts to mark its foray into commodity derivatives on October 12, will launch this contract soon.

ICICI Bank’s former managing director and chief executive officer (MD and CEO), Chanda Kochhar, has sought more time to appear before the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) for a personal hearing, said a source in the know.

Kochhar has been issued a showcause notice by the regulator for alleged violation of the code of conduct.

Bandhan Bank on Friday received exemption from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on one-year lock-in period for selling shares by promotors. This will enable the bank to comply with the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) licensing guidelines for new private sector banks. Effectively, this entails that Bandhan Bank can now sell promoters’ shares before March 2019.

Mumbai: Leading credit rating agencies are likely to face regulatory action over the IL&FC fiasco. According to sources, the market regulator may soon issue show-cause notices to three top rating agencies — Icra, India Ratings & Research (IndRa) and CARE Ratings — over their failure to proactively warn off troubles at one of the country’s biggest non-banking financial companies, IL&FS, till a subsidiary defaulted on some of its debt.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has asked the stock exchanges to look into the steep fall in shares of several companies over the past month.

According to sources, the regulator suspects large stock market operators could be behind the hammering, perhaps in connivance with company promoters.

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