SEBI fines Reliance and 2 executives over the deal with Facebook

21 Jun 2022 , 09:45 AM

Meta’s Facebook invested $5.7 billion in Reliance’s Jio Platforms in April 2020, with the goal of allowing WhatsApp to facilitate payments to millions of small companies. Reliance Industries, owned by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, was able to reduce its huge debt load as a result of the deal.

Reliance Industries and two of its compliance officers were penalized by India’s market regulator on Monday for breaking fair disclosure rules during this deal with Facebook.

Reliance did not disclose the arrangement, according to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), even after newspaper reports in March 2020 publicized price-sensitive facts about the impending investment, causing its stock to soar.

“When portions of (unpublished price-sensitive information) were selectively available, the corporation abdicated its responsibility to verify and come clean on the unverified information that was circulating,” SEBI said late Monday in its ruling.

SEBI stated that it was “incumbent” on Reliance to offer “appropriate clarification on its own” after it learned of the information’s “selective
availability.”

Reliance and the two compliance officers were fined Rs 3 million ($38,522) by SEBI.