SEBI has launched criminal action against Rajeev Kapoor, of Imax Equity Research, for luring the public, committing fraud and operating as an unregistered portfolio manager.
Kapoor, it seems, has been responsible for such print ads, saying:
- We’ll cover 100% losses
- Guaranteed returns
And the offenses have compounded because he has been warned against this practice earlier. Not just that, he keeps changing firms, says SEBI, and locations frequently, but continues to go against the law.
While in the law, at the moment, the difference between giving “tips” and being an “unregistered portfolio manager” is very little, SEBI will likely look the other way unless you blatantly disregard rules. In an earlier indictment of Anirudh Sethi, SEBI took offense at words such as guarantee and “100% sure thing” etc.
Yet, they investigate further into people like Matthew Easow, who gave one recommendation and did the exact opposite in his own accounts, the SAT lets him go on what seems to be a technicality. So if SEBI is serious they should push through with one real case – small fry like Kapoor or Sethi are of no real consequence. Get a big fish – oh there are enough who violate the law, even blatantly – and show what you can do. Otherwise, SEBI will just be taken for granted, forever.