India's regulator bars Bombay Dyeing and others from securities market (updated)

Bombay Dyeing And Mfg

22/10/2022 17:25

(Adds company's statement)
       MUMBAI, Oct 22 (Reuters) - India's SEBI capital market
regulator has barred Bombay Dyeing and Manufacturing Company Ltd
 BDYN.NS  from the securities markets for two years after
finding the firm, a sister company and several executives had
misrepresented financial statements.
    The firms' parent company, the Wadia Group, said on Saturday
all transactions had been conducted in compliance with the law,
vowing to appeal the SEBI order and saying it "believes it would
get justice and stand vindicated".
    One of the oldest conglomerates in India, the Wadia Group
operates in several diversified industries, including consumer
goods, real estate, civil aviation, textiles, chemicals and food
processing. Bombay Dyeing is engaged in real estate, polyester
and textiles.
    The announcement late on Friday by the Securities and
Exchange Board of India (SEBI) said the two-year markets ban
also applied to Bombay Dyeing's owners, Nusli N Wadia and his
sons, Ness and Jehangir.
    When approached for comment by Reuters, the Wadia Group
declined to make further comment about the ban on the three
executives, or any of the individuals and businesses named and
penalised by the SEBI.
    The others identified in the regulator's statement were Scal
Services Ltd, a Wadia Group company, its former directors D S
Gagrat, N H Datanwala, Shailesh Karnik and R Chandrasekharan,
and Durgesh Mehta, who was joint managing director and chief
financial officer of Bombay Dyeing.
    SEBI said it imposed fines totalling 157.5 million rupees
($1.91 million) on the named parties for "being involved in a
fraudulent scheme of misrepresenting the company's financial
statements".
    The regulator said it had conducted a detailed investigation
into the affairs of Bombay Dyeing from 2011-2012 and 2018-2019.
    Four companies in the Wadia Group are listed on Indian Stock
Exchanges, including Bombay Dyeing.
 (Reporting by Rupam Jain
Editing by Mike Harrison and Helen Popper)
 ((Rupam.Jain@thomsonreuters.com; +91 7042133028;))