Sebi will soon take action in WhatsApp leak case

The Securities and Exchange Board of India ( Sebi ) will soon take action in the WhatsApp leak case , Chairman Ajay Tyagi told reporters at a press conference after the regulator’s board meet on Thursday.“There was an issue as to go back to the original person from where those messages came. So, there we went through a bit of a bottleneck as to where did those messages really come from,” said Tyagi.“But, we in fact have investigated and we soon will be taking action,” he added.Without giving a timeline, Tragi said “I don’t want to disclose as to what more will be followed, but we will take action, and raise those cases to priority very soon.In November 2017, Reuters had reported that price-sensitive information had been shared on a “Market Chatter” WhatsApp group, which included analysts and journalists.Subsequent to the report, Sebi has been investigating the matter.Three days before Dr Reddy’s Laboratories announced quarterly results, a message circulated on a private WhatsApp group saying the Indian drugmaker would not post good numbers, Reuters had reportedThe loss would have been a surprise to analysts, as consensus forecasts compiled by Thomson Reuters at the time showed expectations of a profit of Rs 3000000000.On July 27, Dr Reddy’s reported a loss of Rs 58.70000000 under Indian accounting standards Media reports suggested Sebi had also conducted search and seizure operations at offices of broking firms and seized mobile phones and laptops.