Bobby Parikh, who was appointed a board member of Infosys one month ago, finds himself in a controversy. The firm’s audit committee has imposed a fine of Rs 2 lakh (approximately AUD 200,000) for an “inadvertent” trade.
Infosys notified the stock exchanges on this inadvertent trading by a designated person.
In the filing, Infosys said the portfolio management services of Bela Parikh, spouse of Bobby Parikh had bought 2,754 shares during the open trading window period without the knowledge of Bobby Parikh and without obtaining pre-clearance of trade.
“Bobby Parikh is the joint holder of that account. Mr Parikh has confirmed that he was not in possession of any Unpublished Price Sensitive Information (UPSI)”, Infosys said.
Based on Parikh’s submission, the Audit Committee concluded that this was an inadvertent trade made without intent to violate the Company’s insider trading Policy or the SEBI (Prohibition of Insider Trading) Regulations, 2015 (PIT Regulations).
“However, the Audit Committee has determined that there was a violation of the company’s policy and PIT Regulations and has therefore imposed on Mr Parikh, a penalty of Rs 2,00,000 which amount shall be remitted to Investor Protection Education Fund (IPEF) in line with the PIT Regulations,” Infosys said.
The incident has received attention as Infosys is seen as a torch-bearer of corporate governance in the corporate sector.
Parikh was appointed as an Independent Director of Infosys effective 15 July, 2020, based on the recommendations of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee of the Board. He is a former Chief Executive Officer of EY India and held that responsibility until December 2003.
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