NSE fines 250 companies for non-compliance
Around 32 companies on the list are liable to pay a fine of Rs 4.5 lakh each.
Mumbai: The National Stock Exchange (NSE) has penalised 250 companies for non-compliance with various listing regulations for the quarter ended March 31, 2019.
These companies include Jet Airways, Adani Ports, Indraprastha Gas, Bharat Petroleum, InterGlobe Aviation, Jindal Steel, Indian Oil, Hindustan Petroleum as well as two IL&FS group companies.
Around 32 companies on the list are liable to pay a fine of Rs 4.5 lakh each. The fine shall be credited to the "Investor Protection Fund" of NSE as per the SEBI circular. The move is in accordance with markets regulator SEBI's circular that had put in place a standard operating procedure to check non-compliance with provisions of (Listing obligations Disclosure Requirement) Regulations, NSE said.
The total penalty imposed on the non-compliant companies is little over Rs 8.84 crore, according to NSE data. Fines have been levied in the range of Rs 1,000 to Rs 4.5 lakh.
Penalty of Rs 4.5 lakh has been levied on 31 companies that include Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone, Power Finance Corporation, Bharat Electronics Ltd, Hindustan Copper Ltd, Bharat Heavy Electrical Ltd, Oil India Ltd and Indian Oil Corporation among others.
The firms that have been fined Rs 4.5 lakh have violated Regulation 17 of LODR Regulations, pertaining to the composition of board of directors.
SEBI in May 2018, came out with a mechanism to check non-compliance of listing conditions, wherein exchanges have been given powers to freeze promoter shareholding and even de-list the shares of such defaulting companies.
Besides, exchanges can levy fines on non-compliant company, move the stocks of such firms to restricted trading category and suspend trading in the shares of such entities.
Grounds for suspension from listing include failure to comply with the board composition including appointment of women director and failure to constitute audit committee for two consecutive quarters; failure to submit information on the reconciliation of shares and capital audit report for two consecutive quarters.