NEW DELHI: Companies named by market regulator Sebi in the WhatsApp leak case have gone for a revamp of their internal mechanisms, said an exclusive ETNow report on Friday.According to the report, the companies going forward will not allow mobile phones and gadgets during audit meetings.
Also, such audit committee meetings will be held in a restrictive environment to avoid leakage.
The CEO and CFO of the company will be responsible to ensure limited access of results to the internal team.This apart, real-time disclosures will be made wherever possible, prior to the quarterly results.
In December last year, Sebi conducted searches at premises of more than 30 market analysts and dealers.
This followed a probe into the circulation of unpublished price sensitive information about various listed companies, including some blue chips, through WhatsApp messages and social media chatrooms.The investigation started following a Reuters report which suggested that earnings of some major Indian companies, including Dr Reddy's, circulated on WhatsApp groups of traders even before the numbers were officially out.The leaks also pertained to the earnings of Cipla, HDFC Bank, Tata Steel, Wipro, Bajaj Finance, Mahindra Holidays and Resorts, and Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals.The market watchdog in December last year had asked private lender Axis Bank to strengthen its internal processes and systems after the regulator noticed leakage of price-sensitive information relating to financial results on WhatsApp groups before they were officially announced on stock exchanges.