Sun Pharma's senior exec, wife settle insider trading case with Sebi

New Delhi: Sun Pharma group's senior executive Abhay Arvind Gandhi and his wife Kiran have settled with Sebi a case related to insider trading in shares of Ranbaxy Laboratories in 2014.

Both have paid a total of over Rs 70 lakh as settlement charges.

At the time of alleged violation, Abhay Arvind Gandhi was the CEO of Sun Pharma Laboratories Ltd (SPLL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.

Currently, Abhay Gandhi is CEO of Sun Pharma's North America business.

Gandhi and his wife traded in Ranbaxy shares soon after Japanese major Daiichi, in 2014, agreed to sell Ranbaxy to Sun Pharma.

According to separate notices sent to the two individuals, they had traded in the shares of Ranbaxy when the proposed deal was to be made public.

The proposed deal was UPSI (Unpublished Price Sensitive Information) from February 14, 2014 to April 6, 2014.

By trading in the shares of Ranbaxy during the UPSI period, both allegedly violated prohibition of insider trading norms, as per the notices.

As Gandhi was then the chief of SPLL, he and his wife were insiders under the Sebi norms.

Gandhi and Kiran traded in 454 shares and 6,770 shares, respectively, during the UPSI period.

In two separate but similarly-worded orders issued on Thursday, Sebi said the two individuals sought to settle the adjudication proceedings initiated against them in 2017.

Under Sebi's settlement mechanism, without admission or denial of guilt, both proposed to pay Rs 35.06 lakh each to settle the case.

The settlement amounts proposed were approved by a panel of Sebi's Whole Time Members, according to the two orders.

While settling the case, the regulator also said that enforcement actions could be initiated if any representation made by the two individuals is found to be untrue.

"Sun Pharma is pleased that the matter of Mr Abhay Gandhi and his spouse has been brought to a closure.

"Without admitting or denying the findings of fact and conclusions of law, Mr Gandhi and his spouse have proposed to settle the proceedings with Sebi," the company said in a statement.

Sun Pharma has full faith that Gandhi conducts himself with the utmost integrity in any situation, it added.