Axis Capital’s Former ED, Associate Pay Rs1.5 Crore To Settle Insider Trading Case
Moneylife Digital Team 14 April 2025
Ashish Anup Nigam, former executive director (ED) of Axis Capital Ltd and his associate Nehal Milan Mehta paid Rs1.50 crore and accepted a six months voluntary ban to resolve allegations of insider trading with market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). The case concerns trading in the shares of BF Investment Ltd during a period when unpublished price-sensitive information (UPSI) was available regarding the company’s planned delisting. 
 
SEBI's investigation, which covered the period from 4 September 2022 to 20 March 2023, focused on whether Mr Mehta had traded in BF Investment shares while in possession of UPSI.
 
The sensitive information stemmed from an initial public announcement made on 30 December 2022 by Axis Capital, acting on behalf of the promoter group of BF Investment. The announcement expressed the group intent to acquire all public shares and voluntarily delist the company from both the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and the National Stock Exchange (NSE). SEBI determined that the UPSI period lasted from 4 December to 30 December 2022.
 
According to SEBI's findings, Mr Nigam, who had access to the UPSI due to his role at Axis Capital, passed this information to Mr Mehta. On 29 December 2022, Mr Mehta, following a phone call with Mr Nigam, placed buy orders for BF Investment shares. He later sold them after the public announcement, benefiting from a sharp rise in share price.
 
The stock price jumped from Rs292.10 on 30 December 2022 to Rs458.35 on 4 January 2023, allowing Mr Mehta to earn unlawful gains amounting to Rs30.47 lakh. Notably, Mr Mehta had not traded in any shares between 4th September and 3 December 2022. During the UPSI period, he traded only in BF Investment and even afterward, 92.10% of his trading activity was concentrated in the same stock.
 
SEBI concluded that the trading pattern strongly suggested insider trading. As a result, the regulator alleged that both Mr Nigam and Mr Mehta had violated several provisions of the SEBI (Prohibition of Insider Trading) Regulations, 2015, and the SEBI Act, 1992.
 
Both individuals were served a show-cause notice (SCN) on 11 September 2024. Following this, they applied for settlement under SEBI’s Settlement Proceedings Regulations, 2018. Without admitting or denying the allegations, they proposed revised terms for settlement which were reviewed by SEBI internal committee (IC) and the high-powered advisory committee (HPAC).
 
On 20 February 2025, SEBI’s Panel of whole-time members (WTM) approved the settlement. Mr Mehta paid Rs57.20 lakh in settlement charges, along with Rs30.47 lakh in disgorgement and Rs6.81 lakh in interest. He also accepted a voluntary six-month ban from the securities market. Mr Nigam paid Rs55.90 lakh and agreed to the same period of market debarment.
 
Both payments were completed by early April 2025 and SEBI formally confirmed the settlement on 9 April 2025. While the proceedings have been closed, SEBI has reserved the right to reopen the case if any false representations are discovered or if the settlement terms are breached in the future.
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