NEW DELHI: Markets regulator on Wednesday imposed a total fine of Rs 15 lakh on Corporate Strategic Allianz for violating ‘merchant banker regulations.

The violations were with respect to the public issues of Amrapali Capital and Finance Services Ltd (ACFL) and Ace Tours Worldwide Ltd (ATWL) in 2013-14. These were in the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) category.

Imposing penalties totalling Rs 15 lakh, Sebi said Corporate Strategic Allianz failed to exercise due diligence and care in execution of its role as lead manager to the issue, thereby violating the merchant banker as well as ICDR (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements) regulations. A fine of Rs 10 lakh has been imposed for accounting of prepaid advertisement expenses as ‘Intangible Assets’ under fixed assets category in the issue of ATWL. Another Rs 5 lakh penalty is for non-disclosure of the reference to web link to enable investors to monitor post issue performance of the issues handled by the merchant banker for a period of three years from the date of listing in prospectus of ACFL. In the order, Sebi also said it was not possible to quantify the amount of disproportionate gain or unfair advantages made or amount of loss caused to investor as a result of the non-compliance with various norms. The regulator, in November 2014, had conducted an inspection to ascertain if the merchant banker had exercised due diligence with respect to SME issues of ACFL and ATWL.—PTI