Two more Financial Tech directors quit amid NSEL crisis

Two more directors of Jignesh Shah's Financial Technologies India Ltd (FTIL) put in their papers on Wednesday as the controversy continued to rage over trade settlement at its subsidiary National Spot Exchange Ltd, with commodities market regulator Forward Markets Commission having to step in.

C M Maniar and N Balasubramanian have resigned from the board and ceased to be directors of the company, Financial Technologies said in a filing with the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Their resignations come on the heels of FTIL extending a bridge loan of Rs175 crore to the beleaguered NSEL on Tuesday.

Last week, two other FTIL directors, R Devarajan and P R Barpande, resigned from the board.

After the latest round of resignations, the FTIL board now comprises Jignesh Shah as chairman and group chief executive, Dewang Neralla and Manjay Shah, whole-time directors, and part-time directors Chandrakant Kamdar and Ravi K Sheth.

Distressed investors of NSEL held a demonstration in front of the FTIL office in Mumbai demanding early resolution to the trade-settlement crisis.

''We have serious concern about the safety of investments in commodity and other exchanges. Immediate action is necessary to restore the confidence of investors in the financial market which has been heavily dented by the latest development,'' said Sharad Kumar Saraf, chairman, NSEL Investors Forum.

The investors also welcomed the government move to appoint a specific and focused high-powered committee under the chairmanship of economic affairs secretary Arvind Mayaram,

Investors also appealed to corporate affairs minister Sachin Pilot to initiate action by the Serious Fraud Investigating Office.