Utkarsh Small Finance Bank pays Rs 1.24 cr to Sebi to settle LODR Regulations violation case

Utkarsh Small Finance Bank has settled a case pertaining to disclosure norms with capital markets regulator SEBI and paid Rs 1.24 crore towards the settlement charges. Sebi had started adjudication proceedings against the bank for alleged violations of the Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements (LODR) Regulations.

The capital markets regulator had issued a showcause notice to the bank on March 16, 2023, after it appointed an adjudicating officer on March 10, 2023.

The order came after Utkarsh Small Finance Bank proposed to settle the instant proceedings initiated against it without 'admitting or denying' the findings of facts and conclusions of the law through a settlement order. 

Following that, Utkarsh Small Finance Bank filed the settlement application in November 2023, with the regulator for the alleged violation of the rules.

"The instant adjudication proceedings initiated against applicants vide Show Cause Notice dated March 16, 2023, is disposed of in terms of the settlement regulations," Sebi's Adjudicating Officer Barnali Mukherjee said in the order. 

After that, Sebi's High Powered Advisory Committee in its meeting held on February 5, 2024, considered the settlement terms proposed and recommended that the case may be settled upon payment of Rs 1. 24 crore  (Rupees One Crore Twenty Four Lakh Twenty Three Thousand and Six Hundred) by the bank. Accordingly, Utkarsh Small Finance Bank paid the amount and settled the case. 

"Therefore, in view of the acceptance of the settlement terms and the receipt of the settlement amount, the instant adjudication proceedings initiated against applicants vide SCN dated March 16, 2023, is disposed of the Settlement Regulations on the basis of the settlement terms," Mukherjee said

The settlement order stated, "This order is without prejudice to the right of SEBI to take enforcement actions, in terms of regulation 28 of the Settlement Regulations, including restoring or initiating the proceedings in respect to which the settlement order was passed against the applicants, if:
i. it comes to the notice of the Board that the applicant has not made full and true disclosure; ii. applicant has violated the undertakings or waivers:"