The government is working with the Sebi to probe any violations related to pledging of shares by promoters in companies such as Pyramid Saimira and Satyam, corporate affairs minister Prem Chand Gupta said. ?When Sebi chief met me (last week), this was discussed. Sebi will look into the details of all companies where promoters have either pledged or hypothecated their shares,? he said. The government and Sebi are taking a coordinated action and corporate affairs secretary Anurag Goel is in constant touch with Sebi chairman CB Bhave, he said.
The regulator is considering mandating promoters of listed companies to disclose pledged shares, as this can have an impact on market price of the company stock.
The Primary Market Advisory Committee of Sebi has discussed this issue at its meeting on Monday. Without getting into the details of reports relating to Pyramid Saimira, Gupta said the government?s position on Satyam vindicates its resolve to protect the investors. ?You would have seen that in case of Satyam, about 2.5 crore shares were sold by different financial institutions between December 15 and January 5,? Gupta said.
Pyramid Saimira also disclosed earlier this month they pledged shares to raise cash. Shares of Pyramid Saimira fell by about 5% to close at Rs 26.25 on Tuesday.
Fudging by Educomp to be looked into
The government will seek information from education-focused IT firm Educomp over alleged fudging of accounts even as the company said there were no fictitious assets and the promoters sold only 5% of their stake. ?I have read certain reports in the media today and there are allegations about certain irregularities. I will ask for the report and we will find it out,? corporate affairs minister Prem Chand Gupta said. The report had cited Educomp booking fictitious assets to adjust bogus profits arising out of bogus sales and purchases. The report said that the intangible assets are mainly purchased from its subsidiaries indicating fictitious purchases. Educomp denied allegations of fictitious assets.
?There are no fictitious assets as all the assets are installed in the schools. It is wrong to say that intangible assets are mainly purchased from subsidiary companies,? the company said in its response. It also rejected reports of promoters diluting their stake in the company to the extent of up to Rs 250 crore at the high time of share market price. ?The promoters group has so far sold only about 5.07% from the IPO till date. The promoters still hold 55.03% in the company,? Educomp said.