On Wednesday, Sebi imposed a fine of Rs 3 lakh on Crude Oil Tipswala (COT) and three individuals for providing investment advisory services without authorisation from the market regulator. In addition, COT and the three were banned from the securities market for six months.

The order comes after Sebi issued a cause noticees to COT, Jitendra Kumar Ganeshlal Bata, Goutam Sarvar and Mukeshbhai Ramanbhai Muniya in June for violating IA (Investment Adviser) norms for providing investment advice without registering with Sebi Serve.

COT, Jitendra Kumar Ganeshlal Bata, Goutam Sarvar and Mukeshbhai Ramanbhai Muniya are collectively called the “noticees”.

In its final order, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said the noticees were charged a fee of Rs 39.26 lakh from June 2016 to June 2021. Hence, the regulator added a fine of Rs 3 lakh on the notifier for violating market norms.

In its order, Sebi directed the noticees to return the monies received from investors as fees for its unregistered investment advisory activities within three months.

Access to the securities market for trading shall not be permitted for six months from the date of this order or from the date of completion of refunds to customers and credit of balances, whichever is later.

Furthermore, the order provides that during or after the expiry of the prohibition period, they shall not engage in investment advisory services or any securities market activities without obtaining a certificate of registration directly or indirectly from Sebi.

Meanwhile, in a separate order, Sebi fined First Future and Stocks Pvt Ltd (FFSPL) and Chennai Commodities a total of Rs 10 lakh for violating the regulatory norms of the two entities.

The order came after Sebi examined the books and other records of First Futures and Stocks Pvt Ltd (FFSPL) and Chennai Commodities.

The inspection period is from April 2019 to September 2020. In another order, the regulator fined an entity of Maheshwari Datamatics Pvt Ltd (MDPL) Rs 2 lakh for violating market norms.

MDPL is a Registrar of Issue and Share Transfer Agents (RTAs) registered with Sebi. The order came after Sebi had inspected MDPL’s books and accounts, among other records. The inspection period is from April 2018 to November 2019.