The CBI has quizzed Chairman of Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), UK Sinha, in connection with the Preliminary Enquiry (PE) relating to the grant of permission to Jignesh Shah-founded Financial Technologies (India) group for setting up MCX Stock Exchange.
Sinha was examined by a CBI team last evening in Mumbai during which he explained his reasons for granting licence to MCX-SX for operating as a full-fledged stock exchange, official sources said here on Thursday.Sinha’s examination comes after former SEBI chief CB Bhave, named in the PE, was questioned earlier. Another former SEBI chairman M Damodaran is also likely to be quizzed soon where after the agency will conclude if criminality is made out in the matter.
The licence to Financial Technologies for functioning as a full-fledged stock exchange came during the tenure of Sinha, who took charge of the SEBI in February 2011. He got an extension of two years in February this year.After getting a full-fledged licence, MCX-SX started trading in equity and derivatives.MCX-SX had approached SEBI during Damodaran’s tenure who cleared the file at a time when Income Tax searches were being conducted on Shah.
last week Bhave, a 1975 batch IAS officer from Maharashtra, was quizzed by the CBI during which he made it clear that there was no undue pecuniary benefit to Jignesh Shah-led entities as a result of this decision.Bhave, another former member KM Abraham and Financial Technologies India ltd (FTIl) and MCX-SX have been named in the PE.