The market regulator, Securities and Exchange Board of India has imposed Rs 4 lakh fine on Basant Maheshwari Wealth Advisers. The company is accused of breaking rules about fees and using misleading captions in its YouTube videos.
The fine has to be paid within 45 days. Otherwise, the market regulator may charge interest and may begin proceedings to seize movable and immovable assets, as noted by the adjudicating officer in the order.
What’s the matter?
The action has been taken after the inspection by SEBI and BSE Administration and Supervision between October and December 2023. During the inspection, it was discovered that BMWAL was imposing charges on 32 clients using both fixed and assets under advice methods. This practice is prohibited by the market regulator according to Regulation 15A of SEBI’s Investment Advisers (IA) Regulations. According to the regulation, investment advisers are allowed to charge their clients solely under one of the two methods.
Also, while SEBI inspected, BMWAL was uploading YouTube videos with “exaggerated captions” and was “in non-compliance with the advertisement code”. The regulator’s order highlighted captions such as: “100x Portfolio – 3 Saal Mei? Kaise Kiya?”, “10 Saal Mei 10 Guna Aur 20 Saal Mei 100 Guna!! Kaise Kare??”, “1 Crore Ko Double Kaise Kare?? Explained in 2 Minutes”, and “Kaise Banaya Rs 150 crores Sirf Trading kar ke?”
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However, in its answer the company claimed that the videos were aimed at “knowledge enrichment for the general public”, but SEBI dismissed the argument. The regulatory body noted that the disclaimer was “not clearly brought out in the description of videos”.
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