SEBI order: Street doesn't buy Anil Ambani assurances

Anil Ambani's damage control exercise after an adverse order by the Securities and Exchange Board of India against two of his group's companies seems to have failed to reassure investors, as shares of all the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group companies tanked on Monday.

Each of the six companies of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) lost more than 5 per cent, except Reliance Communications whose stock went down by 4.7 per cent or Rs6.60 a piece on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Reliance Mediaworks saw the highest drop of 8.5 per cent, or Rs16.80, on the BSE. Reliance Infrastructure followed with a fall of 7.8 per cent, while Reliance Capital tumbled 6.45 per cent, or Rs39.55.

The losses came on the back of market regulator SEBI's consent order on Friday that said ADAG chairman Anil Ambani will not be allowed to invest in shares of listed companies during 2011, while two of his group companies, Reliance Infrastructure and Reliance Natural Resources (RNRL), which has since been merged with Reliance Power, will face similar restrictions on investments till 2012.

SEBI had also imposed bars on investments till December 2011 on other directors of R-Infra-Satish Seth, S C Gupta, Lalit Jalan and J P Chalasani. The order relates to SEBI's investigations about ADA group companies investing funds raised through ECB and FCCB in the domestic stock market, which is not allowed under the current rules.

SEBI, through this consent order which was voluntarily proposed by ADAG companies, said that the companies and the directors have already paid a settlement charge of Rs50 crore.