Famous Finance Influencer PR Sundar was fined and Barred from Trading for having 2 two DINs
Individuals advising on financial problems, particularly investing and the inventory market, have grown in reputation during the last 5 years, as dozens of influencers (financial influencers) have proliferated throughout social media platforms. Some choose to ignore them, whereas others select to take heed of them and some settle for their recommendation verbatim, however, they seldom confirm whether or not they have the appropriate credentials or Sebi accreditation to advise people on financial concerns.
In a first, Sebi barred a well-known YouTube influencer, PR Sundar, from trading for a yr and ordered them to pay settlement and disgorgement amounts following his alleged involvement in violations of investment advisor regulations.
Recently, other than this, PR Sundar may find himself in hassle once more. It has been learnt that he and Mangaiyarkarasi Sundar, co-promoter of Mansun Consultancy, have two Director Identification Numbers (DINs).
When the media contacted him for clarification, he said that the DINs obtained previously will be surrendered on June 1.
A person may not have more than one DIN. According to Section 155 of the Companies Act 2013, no one who has been assigned a DIN might apply for, receive, or hold another DIN.
According to the data, PR Sundar has the DINs 02987345 and 07848296, whereas Mangaiyarkarasi Sundar has the DINs 02987314 and 07848221.
While 02987345 and 02987314 connect the 2 to a firm called Sunman Consultancy Limited, 07848296 and 07848221 join the 2 to an organization referred to as Mansun Consultancy.
The directors’ names have been spelt somewhat differently for both, as have the contact addresses. Sunman’s directors are Mangaiyarkarasi Sundar and Purisai- Rajamani Sundar, and the contact address is Flat 8D, Block 4, Shanthi Towers, Old No 88, New No 4, Arcot Road, Vadapalani, Chennai 6000026. The directors’ names for Mansun have been spelt without spaces as Mangaiyarkarasisundar and Purisairajamanisundar, and the contact address has been supplied as 113-134, Anna Salai, Raheja Towers, 411- fourth floor, Chennai, Tamil Nadu – 600002.
The sole factor the 2 had in widespread was an electronic mail handle: [email protected].
Sunman, based in 2010 and has the corporate identification quantity U67190TN2010PTC075195, is not in business. Mansun Consultancy, together with its proprietors, was not too long ago barred from the securities marketplace for offering funding recommendation providers without authorized registration.
Sundar said that he had no information his title had two DINs associated with it. He said that he had them registered through two completely different businesses as a result of the quantity of paperwork concerned, and therefore was unaware of the 2 present independently.
He said that now that he has been informed, he would give up the primary on June 1, as directed by his auditor.
According to Pramod SM, a lawyer and firm secretary with many years of experience, it’s exceedingly unbelievable that an individual is unaware that she or he has two DINs of their title.
“Regular updates are sent to people via their contact phone numbers or email IDs,” Pramod defined.
Sunman and Mansun share an identical electronic mail handle, [email protected]. As an outcome, updates for each din ought to have arrived on the identical electronic mail handle.
Pramod said that simply because a DIN is dormant, as considered one of Sundar’s is, doesn’t imply it has ceased to exist. He claims that an inactive DIN could also be activated in a single day by filling out paperwork and paying Rs 5,000.
What was the case?
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) acted after receiving two references stating that Sundar, via his agency, Mansun Consulting, was providing consulting providers without buying the mandatory Sebi registration.
According to a Sebi letter, Sundar was working on an internet site named www.prsundar.blogspot.com the place he provided several packages for giving advisory providers. The charges collected instead of providers have been acquired utilizing a fee gateway linked to Applicant no. 1, Mansun Consultancy Pvt. Ltd. (hereafter known as ‘Mansun/company’)’s ICICI Bank Ltd. account. Mansun was based on June 30, 2017. Applicant No. 2, Mr P R Sundar, and Applicant No. 3, Ms Mangayarkarasi Sundar, are the corporate promoter administrators, every proudly owning a 50% stake.
Sebi issued a present trigger discovery on May 17, 2022, and a Supplementary Show Cause Notice on November 8, 2022, alleging that the website had a tab titled ‘Advisory,’ and that within the account opening kinds and KYC paperwork forwarded by ICICI Bank and Razorpay, the kind of business talked about is “share marketing consultancy.”
In response to an enquiry, Mansun presented a listing of suggestions offered by them for January 2021 by email dated March 17, 2022.
Sebi found {that a} suggestion was related to purchasing/selling/dealing in securities, which have been transmitted to clients.
As a result, it was claimed that Mansun’s suggestions got here underneath the definition of ‘investment advise’ as outlined in Reg. 2 (1) (l) of the SEBI (Investment Advisers) Regulations, 2013.
Furthermore, it was alleged that the Applicants participated in the activities of an ‘investment adviser’ as defined under rule 2 (m) of the IA Regulations.
Following the discovery of their breach, Mansun agreed to pay a revised settlement fee of Rs. 15,60,000/-each, for a total of Rs. 46,80,000/- to SEBI, as well as a disgorgement amount of Rs. 6,07,69,863/, with interest at 12% per yr from June 1, 2020, till the date of submission of the RST.
