Sebi bars 59 more entities in assault on black money

 In a fresh clampdown on entities <g data-gr-id="17">misusing</g> stock markets for evading taxes, regulator Sebi on Thursday barred 59 entities, including HNIs, from securities markets and also referred the case to the Income Tax Department for further investigations.

The banned entities include Riddisiddhi Bullions, Woodland Retails Pvt Ltd, Mahakaleshwar Mines & Metals Pvt Ltd Shir Commodities & Futures (P) Ltd, Gyandeep Khemka, Ashok Kumar Damani, Jaideep Halwasiya, Swaran Financial, Gurmeet Singh and Vision Sponge Iron.

Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) found that there were several entities who consistently made <g data-gr-id="26">significant</g> loss and others who consistently made <g data-gr-id="27">significant</g> profit by executing reversal trades in stock options on the BSE. The trading pattern of both loss-making and profit-making <g data-gr-id="25">entities in this case</g> fail to justify any of the normal strategies of hedging, speculation and arbitrage. While, more than 950 entities have already been banned from capital markets by the regulator for suspected tax evasion of at least Rs 5,000-6,000 crore, Sebi chairman U K Sinha had recently said.

Following Thursday's order, the number of barred entities in such matters has crossed 1,000. 

However, this the first instance of <g data-gr-id="23">action</g> on tax-evaders using stock options. These large number of organised syndicates had set up 'shops' to convert black money into legitimate-looking funds through the stock market platform, he added. In the latest order, Sebi found that "loss-making entities were deliberately making repeated loss through their reversal trades in stock options which does not make any economic sense.”