The Indian market regulator on Monday fined Reliance Industries and its two law enforcement officials for violating the disclosure rules for the $ 5.7 billion digital investment in the 2020 digital sector. In April 2020, Meta’s Facebook invested $ 5.7 billion in Reliance’s Jio Platforms, aiming to allow WhatsApp to provide payment services to millions of small businesses. The deal has helped billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance alleviate the heavy debt burden. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) said Reliance did not disclose the agreement even after newspaper reports in March 2020 published critical details about future investments that led to an increase in its share price.
Reliance did not immediately respond to requests for comment other than normal business hours.”When the pieces (of the non-disclosure price) were acquired selectively, the company relinquished its responsibility to verify and disclose the unconfirmed information that was floating,” SEBI said in a statement late Monday. SEBI said it was “obligatory” for Reliance to provide “one-on-one explanation” once it became aware of “special access” information. The regulator has imposed a fine of 3 million Indian rupees on Reliance and two law enforcement officials.
