SEBI collars Mathew Easow for misleading investment advice
Kolkata: SEBI, after examining some investment recommendations made by Mathew Easow, chairman of Mathew Easow Research Securities Ltd, last year has asked him to "cease and desist" from making any further investment recommendations in any public media that may amount to a violation of a regulation embodied in SEBI (Prohibition of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices Relating to Securities Market) Regulations, 2003.

SEBI has found that the recommendations given by the analyst, when compared with the trading pattern of his associate companies (Mathew Easow Research Securities Ltd and Mathew Easow Fiscal Services Ltd) clearly indicated that he "took an opposite trading position" in a few stocks. The stocks in question are: Kalpana Industries, CESC, Ahlcon Parenterals and Albert David.

According to SEBI, Easow started selling after giving an opposite advice to the market. "This indicates an obvious attempt to mislead the investors through investment recommendations, in a striking posture of ambivalence coupled with interest", the order has mentioned.

With regard to CESC, for instance, SEBI says that the recommendations by Easow were made in mid September, which gave the target price of around Rs300 in three months for the stock. The stock rose to Rs241.20 on the date of recommendation (September 14) as compared to the previous close price of Rs239.05. SEBI says that Easow sold 3,300 shares on the day of his recommendation.

"Interestingly, he was also carrying short position of 4400 shares in futures and options segment prior to his recommendations which, he covered on September 28, 2005, at a lower price," SEBI has mentioned.
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Kotak Mahindra Bank to offer WMS in tier II cities
Coimbatore: Kotak Mahindra Bank is looking at widening its branch network to about 90-100 branches by March 2007, and is also aiming at introducing its Wealth Management Services (WMS) in tier II cities.

The bank currently operates over 50 branches in the country and offers WMS in ten cities. According to bank officials this is expected to extend to another 4-5 cities over the next couple of months.
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