Polaris Financial stock down 7% after Sebi bars CEO from trading

Shares of Polaris Financial Technology slumped on Wednesday after Sebi accused the software services firm's chief executive of insider trading and barred him from participating in the securities markets for two years.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said late on Tuesday it has barred Polaris CEO Arun Jain from buying, selling or dealing in securities either directly or indirectly.

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Jain denied the accusation of insider trading when contacted by Reuters and said he would appeal against the regulator's order with the Securities Tribunal.

In its report, Sebi accused Polaris, formerly called Polaris Software Lab, of "deliberately" withholding in September 2000 a price-sensitive decision to call off a planned acquisition of US software solutions and services provider Data Inc.

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Sebi further accused Jain of selling shares in Polaris through a separate company he controlled after the decision had been made but before the announcement was disclosed to the exchanges.

Polaris shares were down 7.1 percent after earlier falling as much 8.6 percent. The Nifty was down 0.46 percent.

Reuters