Infosys fines Rs 9.5 lakh on Kiran Mazumdar Shaw for breaching insider trading norms

IT major Infosys has imposed a penalty of Rs 9.5 lakh on its lead independent director Kiran Mazumdar Shaw for inadvertently selling 1,600 shares during open trading window period without prior permission.

The trade was carried out by the portfolio manager without the knowledge of Shaw, Infosys notified stock exchanges late on Thursday.

"In portfolio management services, the investor does not generally monitor the day-to-day investment decisions. In this case, as well, Shaw had given no instruction to conduct the trade and she also had no knowledge of the trade has occurred. The portfolio manager unilaterally took the decision to conduct the trade," it said.

Infosys said it was brought to the attention of the company's compliance officer on February 13 that Shaw had inadvertently through her portfolio management services, sold 1,600 shares without obtaining pre-clearance of trade.

The company's audit committee believes that this was an inadvertent trade made without intent to violate the Infosys Insider Trading Policy or the SEBI (Prohibition of Insider Trading) Regulations, 2015. 

However, a penalty of Rs 9.5 lakh has been imposed on Shaw and the amount will be payable to a charitable organisation of her choice.

Infosys will also notify the Securities and Exchange Board of India of this event, it said.