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Bank Of America Settles Insider Trading Allegations In India

Date 11/05/2026

Bank of America's investment banking division in India has paid a settlement of 5.9 million rupees ($61,903) to the country's market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

The settlement resolves allegations of insider trading and violations of merchant banking rules. SEBI had issued a notice to BofA Securities India, claiming the firm failed to maintain a required digital database designed to prevent insider trading.

Bank of America declined to comment on the settlement. By paying the settlement, BofA Securities India did not admit to or deny any of the alleged violations.

The investigation began after a whistleblower complaint in 2024 and centered on BofA's role in a March 2024 share sale for Aditya Birla Sun Life Asset Management. SEBI accused BofA's deal team of contacting potential investors while possessing confidential, price-sensitive information about the sale.

The regulator had also alleged that BofA made false statements and withheld key facts during the investigation.

1.
Securities and Exchange Board of India (hereinafter referred to as
‘SEBI’
)
initiated
adjudication proceedings
under S
EBI
Act, 1992 (hereinafter referred to as “
SEBI
Act
”) against
BofA Securities India Limited
(
hereinafter known as “
Applicant
”) for
the alleged violation of
provisions of
Regulations 2(1)(n), 3(5) and 9A of SEBI
(Prohibition of Insider Trading) Regulations, 20
15 (hereinafter referred to as “
PIT
Regulations
”); Regulation 9A(1)(e) and Regulation 13 read with Clause 21 of
Schedule III of
SEBI (Merchant Bankers) Regulations, 1992 (hereinafter referred
to as “
Merchant Bankers Regulations
”)
.
2.
SEBI appointed
the
undersigned
as the Adjudicating Officer (AO)
,
vide
Order
dated
May 05, 2025
u
/s
15
-
I of SEBI Act and Rule 3 of SEBI (Procedure for Holding
Inquiry and Imposing Penalties) Rules, 1995 (hereinafter referred to as
‘
Adjudication Rules
’) r
/w
Section 19 of the S
EBI Act to inquire into and adjudge
u
/s
15HB
of SEBI Act
the
aforesaid
alleged
violation
s
by the Applicant
.
3.
A Show Cause Notice
dated
May 26, 2025
(hereafter referred to as
“SCN”
) was
issued to the Applicant in terms of the provisions of Rule 4(1)
of the Adjudication
Rules
calling upon the Applicant to show cause why an inquiry should not be held
and penalty not be imposed, u
/s
15HB
of the SEBI Act
against
the
Applicant
for
alleged violation of the aforesaid provisions.
Briefly stated,
it was alleg
ed in the
SCN that the
A
pplicant, being a
merchant banker, failed to maintain Structured
Digital Database (SDD) as prescribed under PIT Regulations.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------
-------
Settlement Order
i
n the matter of BofA Securities India Limited
Page
2
of
3
4.
Pending Adjudication Proceedings, the Applicant proposed to settle the instant
proceedings initiated against
it
, without admitting or denying the findings of facts
and conclusions of law, through a settlement order and filed a settlement
application with S
EBI bearing Settlement Application No.
8601/2025
dated
July 01,
2025
,
in terms of the provisions of SEBI (Settlement Proceedings) Regulations,
2018 (hereinafter referred to as
“Settlement Regulations”
).
5.
After attending meeting with the Internal Committee
of SEBI on
January
19, 2026
,
in terms of the Settlement Regulations, Applicant
s
,
vide
email
dated
January 23,
2026
proposed revised settlement terms. The High Powered Advisory Committee
(hereinafter referred to as
'HPAC'
) in its meeting held on
February
20, 2026
,
considered the settlement terms proposed and recommended that the case may
be settled upon payment of INR
58
,
50
,
0
00
/
-
(Rupees
Fifty
-
Eight
Lakh
Fifty
Thousand
Only) by the Applicant as settlement amount towards the settlement
terms
.
6.
The Panel of Whole Time Members of SEBI approved the said recommendation of
the HPAC on
April 02, 2026
for the Applicant and the same was communicated by
SEBI to the Applicant on
April 15, 2026
. Subsequently, the Applicant
,
vid
e
email
dated
May 04, 2026
in
formed about the remittance of the settlement amount, the
receipt of which is confirmed.
7.
Therefore, in view of the acceptance of the settlement terms and the receipt of
settlement amount as above by SEBI, the instant adjudication proceedings initiated
ag
ainst
Applicant
vide SCN dated
May 26, 2025
is disposed of in terms of section
15JB of the SEBI Act read with regulation 23(1)
r
/w
Regulation 28
of the Settlement
Regulations on the basis of the settlement terms.
8.
This order is without prejudice to the right of SEBI to take enforcement actions, in
terms of regulation 28 of the Settlement Regulations, including restoring or initiating
the proceedings in respect to which the settlement order was passed against the
A
pp
licant, if:
8.1
It comes to the notice of the Board that the applicant has not made full and true
disclosure;
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------
-------
Settlement Order
i
n the matter of BofA Securities India Limited
Page
3
of
3
8.2
Applicant has viola
ted the undertakings or waivers;
8.3
There was a discrepancy while arriving at the settlement terms.
9.
This settlement order shall come
into force with immediate effect.
10.
In terms of regulation 25 of the Settlement Regulations, copies of this order
are
being sent to the A
pplicant and also to
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