Former Wockhardt executive banned from securities market for 6 months by SEBI for insider trading

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has imposed a six-month ban on Yatendra Kumar, a former executive of Wockhardt Ltd, from participating in the securities market. Kumar has also been ordered to disgorge losses of over Rs 14 lakh resulting from his violation of insider trading rules. Additionally, he is prohibited from buying, selling, or dealing in Wockhardt Ltd securities for a period of one year.

Following an investigation into trading activities in Wockhardt’s scrip between January 2012 and August 2013, Sebi found evidence of Kumar’s involvement in trading based on unpublished price-sensitive information (UPSI). Specifically, Kumar traded during a time when he possessed UPSI related to the issuance of Form 483 by the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) to Wockhardt’s manufacturing facility in Waluj, Maharashtra.

Yatendra Kumar has been penalized by Sebi for engaging in trades using price-sensitive information (PSI) related to the issuance of Form 483 by the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA). Form 483 contains detailed observations regarding objectionable conditions found during facility inspections. The USFDA issued Form 483 to Wockhardt on March 22, 2013, which constituted PSI. Wockhardt publicly disclosed this information on April 15, 2013, through a press release on its website, making the period from March 22 to April 15, 2013, a period of unpublished price-sensitive information (UPSI).

During this UPSI period, Kumar sold 6,841 shares between March 22 and April 14, 2013, and divested 1,041 shares between April 15, 2013, and July 31, 2013. Kumar admitted in his response to Sebi that he became aware of the issuance of Form 483 on March 22, 2013.

By engaging in these trades, Kumar managed to avoid a loss of Rs 14.23 lakh, thereby violating insider trading rules. Consequently, Sebi has imposed several restrictions on Kumar.

In a separate case, Wockhardt and its three promoter entities, Habil Khorakiwala, Murtaza Khorakiwala, and Huzaifa Khorakiwala, settled with Sebi last month regarding the alleged non-disclosure of adverse observations made by the USFDA about the company’s Waluj facility to the stock exchanges in 2013.