Top Paytm officials pay Rs 3.32 lakh crore to settle violations of SEBI rules

Top executives at One97 Communications, the company behind it It is donefiled fines with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to resolve accusations of violating regulations. The allegations relate to providing benefits to Vijay Shekhar Sharma, CEO of Paytm, and his family members, as well as approving and signing public offering documents that contained inaccurate information and incomplete disclosures about the promoter entity.

Sebi issued the settlement order on January 17. The settlement amount proposed by the SEBI Advisory Committee was later approved by the full-time members’ committee.

Former compliance officer Amit Khera and several former board members, including independent directors Ashit Ranjit Leilani, Neeraj Arora, Mark Schwartz, and Pallavi Shardul Shroff, as well as former directors Douglas Feigin, Munish Varma, and Ravi Chandra Adusumally, have settled the allegations in a form. collective. of violations against the listing regulations and public issue regulations of the market regulator by paying over Rs 3.32 lakh crore.

The regulator’s six-page order stated that Khaira had not ensured compliance with the regulatory provisions applicable to the listed entity in accordance with the LODR Regulations 2015. In addition, the independent directors Leilani and Arora, who are part of the NRC, had not fulfilled their duties. Fairly and independently when making decisions regarding benefits to the Managing Director and CEO of the Company, Vijay Shekhar Sharma and his relatives, as set out in the order.

The market regulator issued a show-cause notice in May 2024, accusing the NRC of neglecting its duties in an impartial and independent manner. Furthermore, the former directors allegedly endorsed and executed offering documents that contained inaccurate statements and inadequate disclosures.

The offer documents were approved and signed by the directors, although they contained incorrect statements and incomplete disclosures, as noted. Subsequently, their applications were submitted to the internal committee of SEBI during its meeting on August 27, 2024.