SEBI Receives 4,085 Complaints For Corporate Governance Violations In Over Four Years: Govt

Capital markets regulator Sebi has received 4,085 complaints pertaining to the flouting of corporate governance norms against 1,551  companies in the last four-and-half years, Parliament was informed on Tuesday. Of these, 132 complaints were received against firms in the current financial year till July 13; 640 grievances in 2022-23, 809 in 2021-22, 1,151 in 2020-21 and 1,353 in 2019-20, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

During the last four years and current year, complaints for corporate governance violations were received against several companies, including Yes Bank, Zee Entertainment Enterprises, Religare Enterprises, Adani Enterprises, Adani Ports And Special Economic Zone, Adani Power and ACC Ltd.

In cases of complaints regarding violation of corporate governance norms, Sebi takes up the matter with the concerned stock exchange, which in turn, seeks comments from the concerned company, and subsequent steps are taken for redressal of such complaints, he added.

Further, Sebi constituted a committee under the chairmanship of its former whole-time member G Mahalingam in April last year on strengthening the governance of market infrastructure institutions.

In complaints against companies related to violation of rules on diversion or misappropriation of funds; material misstatement in financial statements, etc. Sebi investigates the allegations, and based on the findings of the probe, appropriate enforcement action is initiated.

Additionally, Sebi’s complaints redress system SCORES received 239 complaints against entities for alleged insider trading or price manipulation in the current fiscal till July 13, the minister said.

Some of the entities against which complaints were received for alleged insider trading or price manipulation include Adani Enterprises, Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd, Coal India, HDFC Bank, Vedanta, IIFL Securities and Eros International Media in the current financial year.

Further, a total of 552 complaints were received in 2022-23, 616 grievances in 2021-22, 1,130 complaints in 2020-21 and 1,801 complaints in 2019-20, according to the data shared by the minister.  Sebi Complaints Redress System (SCORES), a grievance redressal system launched in June 2011, helps investors to lodge their complaints online with Sebi, pertaining to the securities market, against companies, intermediaries and market infrastructure institutions.