Market regulator bans another Tayal firm

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has come down on the Tayal group — the promoters of the Bank of Rajasthan — for fraudulently hiking its stake in group firm Jaybharat Textile and Real Estate. Earlier this week,Sebi had banned various Tayal group firms and its promoter P K Tayal for wrong disclosure of shareholding in Bank of Rajasthan. Sebi banned Jaybharat along with 30 other entities,which include several members of the Tayal family,from accessing the stock market. The Tayal group,which is also facing inquiries from the RBI,allegedly used a clutch of entities to fraudulently boost its holding in Jaybharat. While the Tayals informed the Sebi and the bourses that it held only 67.05% in the firm,a Sebi probe revealed that its actual holding was 96.99%. The Sebi probe found that promoters of the company,along with their connected entities,had on a common understanding acquired and held shares in Jaybharat which were far in excess of what had been declared by them publicly. “The extent of their shareholding violated the requirement of minimum threshold mandated for public shareholding to be eligible to be a company listed on the stock exchanges,” said Sebi’s order.