The Security and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Tuesday issued a master circular on surveillance of securities market to make comprehensive details available for concerned people at one place. It covers all the various circulars issued till August 31, 2022.
The regulator said it has observed that employees of brokerage houses and other intermediaries were posting unauthenticated news about stocks through blogs/chats, emails, and forums.
SEBI instructed market intermediaries to put internal code of conduct and controls in place to deal with this increase in circulation of unauthenticated news. It directed SEBI-Registered Market Intermediaries to put in place a proper internal code of conduct and not encourage staff/workers to circulate rumours or unverified information without verification.
"Access to Blogs/Chats forums/Messenger sites etc should either be restricted under supervision or access should not be allowed," the regulator said.
"Employees should be directed that any market related news received by them either in their official mail/ personal mail/ blog or in any other manner, should be forwarded only after the same has been and approved by the concerned Intermediary's Compliance Officer," SEBI stated.
"If an employee fails to do so, he/she shall be deemed to have violated the various provisions contained in SEBI Act/Rules/Regulations etc and shall be liable for action. The Compliance Officer shall also be held liable for breach of duty in this regard," it added.
First Published: Sept 14, 2022 4:15 PM IST
