After Axis Bank, SEBI on Friday asked HDFC Bank to complete an inquiry in three months to find out the people responsible for leaking its financial numbers. SEBI also asked HDFC Bank to strengthen its controls to ensure that price-sensitive information is not leaked.
SEBI is probing the earnings circulated on WhatsApp before its official announcement.
Last month, SEBI had asked Axis Bank to conduct an internal probe over how its financial numbers were leaked.
On HDFC Bank, SEBI in a late evening circular said such leakage is prima facie attributable to the inadequacy of the processes, controls and systems that HDFC Bank as a listed company had put in place. SEBI had found that the leaked numbers for the quarters ended December 2015 and June 2017 were close to the actual results.
SEBI had swung unto action last year after a media report said earnings were being leaked via WhatsApp ahead of quarterly reporting.