RIL'S request for insiders trading settlement rejected

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The Securities and Exchange Board of India, or Sebi, will instead continue its investigation into trades carried out by entities allegedly linked to RIL, in November 2007, said a senior official. It’s not clear when the so-called consent application, akin to a negotiated settlement, was rejected, but it is believed to be fairly recent.

The regulator is probing the sale of stock futures of Reliance Petroleum (RPL), in the first week of November 2007, a few days before parent RIL, India’s most valuable company by market capitalisation, started trimming its stake in its refining arm. The sellers were not well-known market players, but they were allegedly located at the address of some RIL group companies, according to information provided to Sebi by unknown complainants.

If Sebi is able to conclude that the charges are true, it has the powers to impose a ban on the company from accessing the securities market and also to prohibit it from buying, selling and dealing in securities directly or indirectly or to force the company to disgorge the proceeds earned by indulging in the transactions.