SEBI bans 39 over alleged manipulation

India’s market regulator has barred 39 people and entities from the securities market in an interim case tied to trading in RRP Semiconductor shares. (economictimes.indiatimes.com) The Securities and Exchange Board of India said the stock climbed from ₹15 in April 2024 to ₹10,887.10 in October 2025, a roughly 725-fold rise in 19 months. The regulator said that move was not supported by the company’s financials or business fundamentals. (economictimes.indiatimes.com) Moneycontrol reported that the order names Rajendra Kamalakant Chodankar among those restrained and says Securities and Exchange Board of India impounded nearly ₹2 crore in alleged unlawful gains. The notice gives the entities 21 days to reply. (moneycontrol.com) An interim order is a temporary market ban while the case is still being examined, not a final finding after a full hearing. In India’s small-cap and microcap corners, that kind of order can freeze trading access before money is moved or positions are unwound. (sebi.gov.in) (economictimes.indiatimes.com) The case lands as Securities and Exchange Board of India is also tightening how fund managers can use adjacent vehicles outside mutual funds. On April 9, 2026, the regulator issued interpretive guidance to UTI Alternatives Private Limited on when “broad-based” fund conditions apply to alternative investment funds managed by asset management company groups. (sebi.gov.in) That guidance says alternative investment funds are “privately pooled” vehicles under the rulebook, so the broad-based test applies when an asset management company or its subsidiary provides management or advisory services to them. Securities and Exchange Board of India said compliance should be judged at the scheme level, not only at the umbrella fund level. (sebi.gov.in) (economictimes.indiatimes.com) A broad-based fund is a pooled vehicle with at least 20 investors and no investor holding more than 49% of the corpus, according to the Securities and Exchange Board of India framework cited in reports on the guidance. That test is meant to distinguish diversified pools from structures dominated by one or a few investors. (moneycontrol.com) (economictimes.indiatimes.com) Taken together, the two moves show the regulator acting on both ends of the market: alleged price rigging in a single stock and the structure of pooled investment vehicles run by large fund-management groups. The next step in the RRP Semiconductor case is the response period before Securities and Exchange Board of India decides whether to confirm, modify, or lift the interim restraints. (economictimes.indiatimes.com) (sebi.gov.in)