Sebi slaps Rs 3 lakh penalty on Tech Mahindra official Swaminathan Srinivasan

Market regulator Sebi slapped a fine of Rs 300000 on Tech Mahindra official Swaminathan Srinivasan for allegedly failing to make disclosures about change in shareholding.The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), in its order, imposed "a penalty of Rs 300000 ...on the noticee, Swaminathan Srinivsan which will be commensurate with the violation committed by the noticee".Srinivsan, who was an officer of the company, had sold 6,000 shares between February 4-8, 2013, resulting in the change in shareholding exceeding Rs 500000 in value since the last disclosure.Thus he failed to make the relevant disclosures, under Sebi's Prohibition of Insider Trading regulations, to stock exchanges.According to Sebi, Srinivsan had admitted to have sold 2,000 shares of the company each on February 4,5 and 8 worth Rs 6.9500000."The noticee has further inter alia submitted that he has misunderstood the limit of 5,000 shares and Rs 500000 and had presumed that since each of the transaction did not individually violate the rule of 5,000 shares or Rs 500000, they were within the prescribed norms of trading for senior associates of the company, and only later realised that he had made a mistake and should have taken a pre-clearance for the transaction," Sebi noted.