Sebi imposes Rs 5.2 crore penalty on OPG Securities in NSE co-location case

Mumbai, Apr 2, 2025

New order following SAT directions to recalculate the disgorgement and penalty amounts

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has imposed a total penalty of Rs 5.2 crore on OPG Securities and its three directors in the National Stock Exchange (NSE) co-location matter.

In an adjudicating order issued on Wednesday, Sebi highlighted that OPG did not adhere to the “standards of integrity, due skill, care and diligence in the conduct of its business”. Sebi also alleged that one of the directors failed to co-operate with the regulator and hampered investigations.

The Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) had earlier affirmed that stock broker OPG Securities had gained unfair access to the NSE’s secondary server, making unlawful gains.

The tribunal had directed Sebi to reconsider the penalty and disgorgement amount while setting aside an earlier disgorgement order of Rs 15.57 crore on OPG by a Sebi whole-time member.

In September 2024, the market regulator dropped charges against the NSE and its former executives, citing absence of evidence to support the allegations. However, it had revised the disgorgement amount for OPG to Rs 85 crore.

While the disgorgement amount was raised, the fresh penalty is the same as Sebi’s order in 2021.

Before the fresh order, OPG urged Sebi to keep the proceedings in abeyance until the appeals in the Supreme Court are concluded.

The market regulator pointed out that the fresh proceedings were limited to determining the penalty afresh as directed by the tribunal.

OPG has challenged earlier findings by Sebi in the SAT and Supreme Court. The appeals are pending.

[The Business Standard]