'I will file defamation case': Societe Generale's Kavish Kataria on being accused of front running trades

Societe Generale's Kavish Kataria Kavish Kataria, who has been in the eye of storm since Tuesday for allegedly front running trades, said on Wednesday that he will "file defamation case".

Kataria, who works from Hong Kong, has on Tuesday been accused on social media of liqudiating his entire mid- and small-cap holdings, which led to a broad sell-off in mid- and small-cap stocks. These holdings were told to be worth up to Rs 3,000 crore. 

On Wednesday, Kataria issued a clarification on LinkedIn with  #stopspreadingrumours. Rumours were doing rounds on social media that Kataria has been fired from Societe Generale to which he said that holds his post with "utmost pride" and that he's 'still' an employee at the French bank.

"To all the rumours which have been spread in the market against me you better be careful I will file defamation case against all who has tarnished my image. I will just right now say that i am still employee of Societe Generale and i hold my post with utmost pride. #stopspreadingrumours," wrote Kataria.

Meanwhile, analysts said the selloff in mid- and small-cap stocks was triggered because of Kotak Institutional Equities' take on future performance of these stocks and a typical profit booking that comes at elevated levels.  

Amid the ongoing outperformance in the broader markets, Kotak Institutional Equities dropped its recommended mid-cap portfolio as it could not find too many stocks beyond the BFSI space that offer decent potential upside to its 12-month fair value.

Sharing its view on the decision, the brokerage said that valuations of stocks in their favourite capital goods, healthcare, QSR and real estate sectors discount growth for the next few years and leave absolutely no room for any disappointment.

“We would have had to remove these stocks from the portfolio anyway, as it would be incorrect to recommend stocks with low conviction and potential downside to our fair values, which would have left a portfolio comprising BFSI stocks largely,” Kotak Institutional Equities.