SAT overturns Sebi order on Karvy pledged share

In Nov 2022, Sebi had issued an interim order against Karvy, barring it from onboarding new clients as a broker

- Priyanka Gawande

Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) on Wednesday quashed two Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) orders that denied representations by lenders to reinstate the shares pledged by Karvy Stock Broking Ltd.

"Sebi's impugned order has been quashed. A direction is given to Sebi, NSE and NSDL to restore the pledge that was made in favour of the appellants (banks) within four weeks from today," said a bench led by Justice Tarun Agarwala.

"In an alternative, Sebi, NSE and NSDL will compensate the appellants with the value of underlying securities pledged in their favour along with an interest of 10% per annum."

Legal experts said the SAT order has created a huge liability for Sebi, the NSE and NSDL since they might have to buy shares from the market at their own cost to restore the pledge. The financial liability is estimated at over 1,400 crore, as per the order. This is one of a kind of case, where the regulator and the market infrastructure intermediaries are faced with such huge financial liabilities, a lawyer said, requesting anonymity.