Dozens of Indian securities officials descended on the homes of brokers and others on Friday in a widespread early morning raid in Mumbai, and possibly other cities, a regulatory source said.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) raids are a sign that a probe by the regulator is gathering steam. The investigation is looking into who was responsible for circulating prescient messages about major Indian companies' corporate announcements in social media chatrooms, according to the regulator.

In a major crackdown against leak of price sensitive information about listed firms, market watchdog Sebi today conducted searches at premises of more than 30 market analysts and dealers and seized documents, computers, mobiles and laptops. The searches follow a probe into circulation of unpublished price sensitive information about various listed companies, including some blue chips, through WhatsApp messages and social media chatrooms.

Sebi chairman Ajay Tyagi on Wednesday said bitcoins has not posed any systemic risk so far, however, the cryptocurrency cannot be ignored and a government panel is looking into it. “There has to be a process or law, only then can you take action,” Tyagi told reporters on the sidelines of a Confederation of Indian Industry conference in Mumbai. Tyagi said there should not be any regulatory oversights on blockchain technology, saying this is a useful technology and should be encouraged. Blockchain technology is used to deal with bitcoins and other crypto currencies.

New Delhi, Dec 20 () Sebi has ordered forensic audit of Pincon Spirit Ltd, which figures in the list of suspected shell companies, to check misuse of funds even as the regulator lifted trading curbs imposed on it.

Trading in the securities of Pincon Spirit will be reverted to the status prior to August 7, when the curbs were imposed, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said in an interim order dated December 19.

Market watchdog Sebi will come down heavily on illicit 'initial coin offers' seeking public investments with promise of high returns from Bitcoins and other virtual currencies, amid a mushrooming of such schemes in the absence of any regulatory regime.

Mumbai: The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) are in consultations to give a boost to interest rate futures (IRF) which is currently struggling under low volumes, Sebi chairman Ajay Tyagi said on Thursday.

“With RBI we are re-looking at IRF which is currently seeing less traction,” Tyagi said at the NSE-NYU conference on Indian Financial Markets in Mumbai.

The Securities & Exchange Board of India (Sebi) chairman Ajay Tyagi on Tuesday came out very strongly against the leaking of price-sensitive information and key financial data of listed companies through social media, before such information is made public. “We are taking it very seriously. How come such messages, about reputed listed companies, are leaked quite close to the financial results? This is something we are not going to sit quietly on,” Tyagi said.

Mumbai: The markets regulator is “seriously” looking into the complaints about some individuals allegedly circulating key financial details and other market moving information about listed companies on social media groups before they are made officially public.

Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) chairman Ajay Tyagi on Tuesday confirmed that the regulator has come to know of instances wherein price-sensitive financial data of reputed companies was leaked to right before the earnings were formally made public.

Observing that a lot of improvement is needed in corporate governance framework, Sebi whole time member G Mahalingam has called for more research work on this issue particularly in the area of board evaluation.

“Lot more research and work can be done in the area of corporate governance. Recently Uday Kotak came out with its set of regulations. What are the areas in corporate governance that need improvement is a fertile area for research,” Mahalingam said here late last evening.

Observing that a lot of improvement is needed in corporate governance framework, Sebi whole time member G Mahalingam has called for more research work on this issue particularly in the area of board evaluation. “Lot more research and work can be done in the area of corporate governance. Recently Uday Kotak came out with its set of regulations. What are the areas in corporate governance that need improvement is a fertile area for research,” Mahalingam said here late last evening? “Board evaluation guidelines has been issued by Sebi but how is it functioning now is great area of interest.

Inviting Real Estate Agents, Job Placements Agents, Educational Institutes, Software Service Providers, Real Estate Builders, Marriage Bureaus, Travel Agents, Restaurant Owners, Health & Fitness Centers and other Local Businesses to Post a FREE Classified Advertisement on Cootera.com Classifieds Website.