NEW DELHI:
The Bombay Supreme Court on Monday suspended an antitrust investigation into trustee units of State Bank of India (SBI), Axis Bank and IDBI Bank over suspected fee collusion, saying the market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) would look first. in the business.
Indian regulations require companies taking on debt to appoint a so-called “debenture trustee” to protect the interests of investors. The trustees charge a fee to the companies issuing the debt and perform due diligence checks.
Reuters reported last week that the Competition Commission of India (CCI) had ordered an investigation into debt managers of the three banks and that a group representing them had gone to court to quash the investigation.
On hearing the plea, Bombay Supreme Court judges said SEBI – which is also investigating the case – must complete its investigation within 60 days, until then the antitrust investigation will be suspended.
SEBI is the sectoral regulator and should first review the allegations, the trustees had argued in court.
The three under investigation – SBICAP Trustee Company, Axis Trustee and IDBI Trusteeship – are among the leaders in the company in India that oversees hundreds of billions of dollars by providing trustee services for not only debt securities, but also real estate and other assets. investment funds.