Capital markets regulator Sebi on Monday debarred Rajkot-based stock broker Patel Wealth Advisors (PWA) and its four directors from dealing in the securities market for alleged order spoofing and directed to impound `3.22 crore of illegal gains made by them.
In market parlance, order spoofing is an illegal and deceptive practice wherein one places a trade order with the intent to cancel it before execution and simultaneously executes trades on the opposite side, leading to price manipulation.
The regulator in an order noted that PWA continued to indulge in unfair trade practices despite repeated show-cause notices and initial proceedings by the NSE.
In an ex-parte interim order, the Sebi directed to impound `3.22 crore illegal gains made by them. Sebi said it will undertake a probe into the matter. PWA claims to be in operations for 25 years and its four directors banned by the regulator are Denish Maheshbhai Patel, Mitul Umedlal Vora, Kaushal Vasantrai Patel and Minish Maheshbhai Patel. “Order spoofing is a manipulative, fraudulent and unfair trade practice employed by PWA to deceive other market participants and profit from price fluctuations they induced on unwary investors. This practice distorts prices and undermines efficiency of market,” noted Sebi whole-time member Kamlesh Varshney in the 41-page interim order. It found PWA was involved in spoofing activity in both cash and derivatives segments across 173 scrips between January 2021 and January 2025. Their activity resulted in 621 unique spoofing instances. At its peak, PWA’s phantom orders constituted 90% of pending order book in certain stocks, an indicator of the extent of market distortion.