Hindustan Unilever imposes Rs 9 lakh fine on Independent Dir for 'inadvertent trade' in its shares

Hindustan Unilever Ltd on Thursday said it has imposed a fine of Rs 9 lakh on its Independent Director Ashish Gupta for an 'inadvertent trade' in the shares of the company by the portfolio management services firm of his spouse.

In a regulatory filing, Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) said it "noticed the occurrence of an inadvertent trade by one of our Designated Persons".

"The portfolio management services of Nita Goyal, spouse of Dr Ashish Gupta, an Independent Director of the company, has traded in the shares of the company on behalf of Ms Goyal without her prior approval/intimation," the company said.

HUL further said, "Ms Goyal has confirmed that she was not in possession of any Unpublished Price Sensitive Information (UPSI)".

The Share Dealing Code Compliance Committee (SDC Compliance Committee) formed under the Share Dealing Code and the Audit Committee of the company were informed and notified of the inadvertent trade.

"Based on the facts placed by Dr Ashish Gupta, it was understood that it was an inadvertent trade made without any intent to violate the provisions of SEBI (Prohibition of Insider Trading) Regulations, 2015 (PIT Regulations) and the code of the company," it added.

However, the company said, "due to the breach of the Code and PIT Regulations, SDC Compliance Committee has imposed a monetary penalty of Rs 9 lakh on the Independent Director and the penalty has been noted by the Audit Committee".

The said amount shall be transferred to Sebi Investor Protection and Education Fund Account as per the provisions of PIT Regulations, the company said.