Sebi chief warns manipulators

On the day of taking charge as the new chairman of Securities and Exchange Board of India Sebi, M. Damodaran sent out a message to manipul...

On the day of taking charge as the new chairman of Securities and Exchange Board of India Sebi, M. Damodaran sent out a message to manipulators: Sebi will come down heavily on those indulging in market misconduct.

8216;8216;It8217;s not going to be easy to indulge in wrongdoings and the punishment will be swift and heavy,8221; said Damodaran after taking over charge from the outgoing Sebi chief G.N. Bajpai in Mumbai on Friday.

8220;It8217;s the responsibility of the regulator to proactively address any kind of market mischief and create circumstances to minimise potential mischief if not eliminate it,8221; Damodaran said. He quit as the chairman and MD of IDBI on Friday.

On stock markets reaching its all-time high recently and fire-like situation in the benchmark indices, Damodaran said: 8216;8216;Sometimes fire can burn you and some fires can give you warmth. The current fire we are witnessing at the stock markets is just warming the market sentiments.8217;8217;

With respect to small investors, Damodaran said, 8216;8216;Informed investing always benefits and uninformed investment causes losses. Our effort would be to create an environment where investors survive and prosper by abiding the laws.8221;

Asked about quality of regulations, Damodaran said, 8220;That the capital market in the country has a well-regulated system and Sebi was an orderly and structured organisation. However, a unidirectional regulator is a thing of the past. Now what is needed is different skill sets to regulate the market.8221;

On Sebi8217;s several decisions overturned by the appellate authority the Securities Appellate Tribunal, Damodaran said, 8220;It is not true that too many Sebi decisions have been set aside. In some cases the penalty has been reduced or the severity of the Sebi order has been brought down. If too many cases are set aside by SAT than it is a systemic issue but that is not the case here.8221;

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Asked whether the outlook of the market was bullish, Damodaran said, 8220;My outlook in life is positive. And life means everything including the market.8221;

Damodaran, who steered UTI out of an imbroglio, said he will be able to get a clear picture on the challenges faced by the Indian capital market after he assumes office. 8216;8216;I will give it a best shot in dealing with the challenge,8221; he said. He parried a question on whether FII inflows needed to be regulated, saying he has 8220;no view8221; at this point of time as was yet to take charge of Sebi and study the scenario. The markets were better regulated now than in the past and his attempt would be to take it forward, he reiterated.