UBS appeals against Sebi ban

UBS Securities Asia on Tuesday filed an appeal in the Securities Appellate Tribunal against Sebi’s order barring the company from issuing participatory notes (offshore derivative instruments (ODIs)) for underlying Indian securities for one year. Sebi in its order dated May 17 had prohibited UBS and Associates from renewing or rolling over the ODIs already issued against the positions held by it in the Indian securities market for one year. The order was the first action taken against those purportedly involved in May 17, 2004 market crash. Sebi had come down heavily on UBS for its trading practices, and had blamed UBS for failing to discharge its obligations to regulatory requirements, with a design to withhold critical information for stultifying the investigation. Confirming the development, Mathew McGrath, a UBS Securities’ spokesperson based in Hong Kong said: ‘‘UBS Securities Asia filed an appeal against the Sebi’s May 17 ’05 order on June 27. The appeal has been filed on the basis that it (UBS Securities Asia) does not accept the order’s findings and expressly denies any deliberate misconduct. UBS wishes to stress that it remains entirely committed to the Indian market. As a matter now before the Tribunal, UBS is unable to comment further.’’