Former Axis cap exec settles insider trading case with sebi

Former Axis Capital executive director Ashish Anup Nigam and Nehal Milan Mehta have settled a case of insider trading with market regulator Sebi by paying ₹1.13 crore as settlement amount. They have also undertaken a voluntary six month ban from the securities market.

Mehta has also been directed to disgorge ₹37.2 lakh of unlawful gains along with interest.

The case relates to an investigation Sebi done to check whether Mehta had traded in the shares of BF Investment while in possession of unpublished price sensitive information. The investigation period was from September 4,2022 to March 20,2023.

After the investigation,Sebi had issued a show cause notice to both of them on September 11,2024.

The regulator alleged that Nigam who was with Axis Capital was the manager to proposed delisting offer of BF Investment and was in possession of unpublished price sensitive information (UPSI) and had communicated it to Mehta who traded in the shares based on the inside information and made unlawful gains.

“Ashish Anup Nigam was connected with Nehal Milan Mehta and was in frequent communication with him during the UPSI period. Further, Nehal Milan Mehta had placed certain buy orders immediately after the call made with Ashish Anup Nigam on December 29, 2022 at 14:01:21 hours,” Sebi said in its order on Friday.