MUMBAI: Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on Tuesday unleashed some fresh and unexpected trouble to auto maker Tata Motors Ltd.The market regulator pulled up Tata Motors to conduct an internal probe into the alleged leak of financial earnings on WhatsApp ahead of official disclosures.
The Mumbai-based firm is the third facing regulatory wrath after Axis Bank and HDFC Bank in its clampdown to stem alleged leakages of earnings data on social media platforms. In an order issued on Tuesday, SEBI said, Tata Motors’ earnings for the quarter ended December, 2015 were finalised before the circulation of the WhatsApp message on February 11, 2016.
It added that the financial data the company had reported during the quarter, matched the figures that were in circulation prior to its official announcement. This wouldn’t have been possible without information spilling out from the person(s) privy to earnings data prior to the official announcement.
SEBI asked Tata Motors to complete the internal inquiry in three months and submit the report within a week of its completion. It also has to apprise the regulator about the prevailing systems and controls in place along with the names of persons responsible for monitoring such systems and how they can be further strengthened.
Last year, a Reuters investigation had uncovered earnings leak ahead of financial results on the instant messaging app and had identified at least 12 such cases. SEBI conducted searches at the premises of more than 30 market analysts and dealers, seizing documents, computers, mobiles and laptops.
As per the SEBI (Prohibition of Insider Trading) Regulations, 2015, information cannot be shared unless in the case of a legal obligation or if it is disclosed in order to perform duties. SEBI chairman Ajay Tyagi had earlier said that there were six or seven blue-chip companies whose earnings were circulated on WhatsApp.