Bombay High Court has said that SEBI should complete its investigation of trustee units of banks
New Delhi:
The Bombay High Court on Monday stayed the probe into suspected collusion on charges in trustee units of State Bank of India (SBI), Axis Bank and IDBI Bank, saying the market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) will first consider it. in this matter.
Indian regulations state that debt-taking companies appoint a so-called “debenture trustee” to protect the interests of investors. The trustees charge a fee from the debt issuers and conduct due diligence checks on them.
Reuters reported last week that the Competition Commission of India (CCI) had ordered an investigation into the debt trustee units of three banks and a group representing them was seeking to quash the probe in court.
Hearing the petition, the Bombay High Court judges said that SEBI – which is also probing the matter – should complete its investigation within 60 days, and till then the antitrust probe would remain on hold.
SEBI is the regional regulator and should first review the allegations, the trustees argued in the court.
The three under investigation – SBICAP Trustee Company, Axis Trustee and IDBI Trusteeship – are leaders in business in India, overseeing hundreds of billions of dollars by providing trustee services for not only debt securities, but also real estate and other investment funds.