SEBI Settlement Surge: Peaceful Resolution or Regulatory Coercion?

Moneycontrol, in a report by Brajesh Kumar, highlights that SEBI’s Annual Report for FY25 shows a sharp rise in settlement activity, 703 applications compared to 403 in FY24, averaging nearly three per working day, with settlement charges soaring from ₹94.5 crore to ₹799 crore.

In this context, Mr. Sumit Agrawal of Regstreet Law Advisors & former SEBI Officer, was quoted :
” 𝘚𝘦𝘣𝘪’𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵, 𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘚𝘈𝘛 𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘧 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘦𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘶𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵, 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘶𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘴. 𝘈𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘥𝘥𝘴, ‘𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵’ 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦.”

Mr. Agrawal was further of the view that absence of statutory timelines for investigations and orders can prolong proceedings indefinitely, creating commercial uncertainty.

He further added that “𝘖𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘤𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘶𝘮𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘦. 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘯𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺, 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘥”.

The data also shows that out of 703 applications, 284 were settled, 272 were returned/rejected/withdrawn, and ₹65 crore was additionally collected as disgorgement. Many cases involved alleged violations under the Takeover Regulations, Insider Trading Regulations, PFUTP Regulations, Disclosure Regulations, FPI and MF Regulations.

The full moneycontrol.com article is available here: https://lnkd.in/gH6YGymx

Reach out to us at info@regstreetlaw.com

Regstreet Law Advisors SEBI Sumit Agrawal moneycontrol.com Brajesh Kumar BSEIndia NSE India