Sebi slaps Rs 65 lakh fine on Satyam Computer official

Capital market regulator Sebi said it has imposed a penalty of Rs 65 lakh (Rs 6.5 million) on a senior official of the then Satyam Computer Services Ltd for alleged violations of insider trading norms during fiscal 2008-09.

Satyam Computer Services was acquired by Mahindra group in 2009 and rechristened as Mahindra Satyam.

Sebi said it levied the fine on Satyam Computer Services head of investor relations T A N Murti for allegedly indulging in insider trading when he was in possession of "unpublished price sensitive information relating to acquisition of Maytas Infra Ltd (MIL) and Maytas Properties Ltd (MPL) by the company."

The regulator had conducted a probe relating to insider trading in the shares of Satyam Computer during the fiscal year 2008-09.

Murti had "sold 14,500 shares of Satyam Computer on December 15, 2008"

prior to the announcement, the regulator said.

Sebi said Satyam Computer had announced the acquisition of MIL and MPL on December 16, 2008 and that the deal was cancelled the next day. The regulator said the information about the proposed deal was price sensitive in nature.

On December 17, 2008 the price of the scrip fell 33.5 per cent from previous close but after the cancellation of the deal, it recovered marginally on the NSE, Sebi said.

"In the instant case, the information was highly price sensitive and when the same was made public, the market reacted very adversely leading to a fall of 33.5 per cent of share price which is quite substantial.

"The noticee (Murti) by selling 14,500 shares of Satyam Computer on December 15, 2008 has avoided a loss of Rs 21.54 lakh (Rs 2.15 million)," Sebi said.