Sebi probes collusion between big bond investors and YES Bank

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has asked some of the large investors if they were ‘warehousing’ perpetual bonds of Yes Bank before the securities were palmed off to unsuspecting retail investors.

Why did these big, institutional investors sell down the papers soon after buying them in the primary market？ Did they receive any incentives from the private sector lender？ Was there a back-to-back arrangement？

“From time to time, Yes Bank RMs (relationship managers) used to either call or email us to tell the names of interested buyers of these bonds, along with quantity and price... However, we sold only a small portion to retail investors,” said an official with one of the institutions.

Yes Bank has shown a good up-move in the past few sessions. Notably, this private banking stock didnt participate in the Banking rally. After being included in MSCI list, the stock has seen some good traction. There was some pressure on the stock in morning after a bulk deal but again saw buying at lower levels and moved strongly after that. The stock has risen 14% in just the last 5 trading sessions.