The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) asked India’s two top stock exchanges National Stock Exchange of India Ltd., (NSE) and Bombay Stock Exchange Ltd., (BSE) to investigate the earnings announcement of 24 companies on WhatsApp.
BSE and NSE will examine the trade data of the 24 companies whose financials were leaked on WhatsApp and other social media prior to their earnings release. According to sources, SEBI along with the exchanges will try to figure out if such information appearing on social networking sites violates insider trading and listing regulation. Livemint reported, an official at a stock exchange said, “The exchanges have observed discrepancies in trade data, prompting bourses to seek clarification from the companies on the data leaks. We are examining the trade data of these companies for the past 12 months.”
The issue was brought to attention by Reuters on 17 November 2017. According to the Reuter’s report, the second quarter earnings report of 12 companies was being circulated in private WhatsApp groups. Dr. Reddy’s, Cipla, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, Tata Steel, Wipro, Bajaj Finance, Mahindra Holidays and Resorts, Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals Ltd., Mindtree Ltd., Mastek Ltd., and India Glycols are some of the companies whose earnings report was available on WhatsApp. Almost half of these companies are a part of India’s largest single financial product, Nifty 50.
The possession and circulation of unpublished price sensitive information needs to be uniformly disclosed through stock exchange platforms according to SEBI’s Listing Obligation and Disclosure Requirement (LODR) and Prevention of Insider Trading (PIT) regulations. In early 2015, India also strengthened its insider trading rules to include what constitutes “unpublished price sensitive information” and other insider information that could have a market impact.
Therefore, this leak of confidential earnings report of the 24 companies can constitute a violation of PIT regulations. Reports suggest SEBI may ask for the call data records of all the persons involved in the alleged earnings leak. This step will allow SEBI to check if insider trading norms are being violated through data sharing on WhatsApp.