WhatsApp leak case: SEBI directs Tata Motors to conduct internal probe

After Axis Bank and HDFC Bank, SEBI on Tuesday directed Tata Motors to conduct an internal inquiry into leakage of unpublished price-sensitive information related to its quarterly financial results through WhatsApp. SEBI may ask two more companies to conduct internal probes on the subject, sources told BusinessLine.

In a detailed order, SEBI said that prima facie it appeared that the results of Tata Motors for the quarter ended December 2015 were finalised on or before February 9, 2016, prior to the circulation of the WhatsApp message on February 11, 2016. “It is observed that the financial figures pertaining to the quarterly results of Tata Motors were matching with the figures that were in circulation prior to its official announcement by the company,” the order noted. “Such resemblance of information circulated on WhatsApp with the actual financial results prima facie indicates that the financial figures of Tata Motors, were in circulation prior to official announcement...,” it added. Tata Motors will have to conduct an internal inquiry into the leakage within three months.