Sebi slaps Rs 25 lakh fine on Monetary Solutions for violating market norms

Capital markets regulator Sebi on Monday levied a fine of Rs 25 lakh on Monetary Solutions for flouting regulatory rules.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) inspected Monetary Solutions (Proprietor Ankit Vyas), a Sebi-registered individual investment adviser during September 19-23, 2022.

The focus of the inspection was to look into compliance with regulatory requirements under PFUTP (Prohibition of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices) and IA (Investment Advisers) rules.

After the inspection, the regulator issued show-cause notices to Monetary Solutions for the violations of norms.

"I observe that the noticee (Monetary Solutions) advertised fake testimonials and its past performance on its website to demonstrate the accuracy of its tips to lure the investors by showing profit generated by those tips and thereby tried to deceive its clients," Sebi's Adjudicating Officer Barnali Mukherjee said in the order.

Further, the regulator observed that by making fake statements, Monetary Solutions acted fraudulently on the investors to induce them to take advice from the noticee.

Therefore, the fake testimonials and the profit-making tips of the noticee shown on its website were false representations knowingly made by the entity, thereby flouting PFUTP norms and the Code of Conduct of IA regulations.

In addition, Sebi observed that the noticee has not disclosed the investor charter on its website and has not provided the link to lodge complaints on SCORES, therefore violating IA rules.