Indian Police Arrest Former National Stock Exchange Head
The CBI recently widened its co-location probe to cover governance at the exchange when Chitra Ramkrishna was at the helm.
(Bloomberg) -- India’s federal police arrested the former chief executive officer of the National Stock Exchange late Sunday, according to a person familiar with the matter, in a potential blow to the bourse’s much-delayed initial public offering.
Chitra Ramkrishna and Anand Subramanian, the former group operating officer, have been accused of providing unequal access to the exchange’s trading system, the person said, asking not to be identified citing privacy rules. On Monday, a court in Delhi allowed investigators to keep the pair in custody for questioning.
India’s Central Bureau of Investigation, which registered a case in 2018 in the so-called co-location scam, has recently widened its probe of governance issues at the exchange. The arrests come after the Securities and Exchange Board of India passed an order implicating Ramkrishna in leaking confidential information and allegedly giving some brokers preferential access through a co-location facility.
A spokesperson for the Central Bureau of Investigation did not respond to calls. Lawyers representing Ramkrishna did not answer calls and messages seeking comment.
Last week, a Delhi court rejected Ramkrishna’s anticipatory bail application on the grounds that her role should be examined in detail given her influential position. Indian authorities questioned her for three days last month and found her replies evasive, the person said.
India’s market regulator recently fined Ramkrishna after a separate investigation found that she had made decisions at the exchange for years under the guidance of a figure she described as a Himalayan yogi.
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