Angel One Settles SEBI Proceedings with ₹4.28 Crore Payment
Leading brokerage firm Angel One has reached a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) regarding regulatory lapses in monitoring its authorised persons. To resolve the ongoing adjudication and enquiry proceedings, the company has paid a settlement amount of ₹4.28 crore.
Lapses in Monitoring Authorised Persons
The regulatory action stemmed from SEBI's investigation into the activities of two specific authorised persons (APs), Deepankar Barman and Nadella Srinivas Rao. According to the regulator, Angel One failed to provide adequate supervision and failed to identify or act upon violations committed by these individuals.
SEBI had issued separate show-cause notices in May 2025 under various intermediary regulations. The regulator's core allegation was that the brokerage firm did not maintain sufficient oversight, which allowed for significant operational and compliance breaches to occur under its brand name.
Specific Compliance Violations Identified
The investigation highlighted several critical areas where Angel One’s monitoring mechanisms failed. Key findings from SEBI included:
- Unauthorised Fund Collection: The brokerage failed to detect and prevent unauthorised fund collection activities conducted by the APs.
- Inadequate Due Diligence: Despite disproportionate trading patterns and large fund collections, the company failed to conduct proper inspections or due diligence.
- Social Media Misconduct: One authorised person allegedly engaged in unauthorised social media activities, including making promises of "assured returns" and conducting unauthorised portfolio management while using the Angel One brand name and logo.
- Technical Red Flags: In the case of Nadella Srinivas Rao, SEBI flagged instances where orders for multiple different clients were placed using the same IP and MAC addresses—a major red flag for potential fraudulent activity.
- Cross-Brokerage Trading: Both APs were found to be trading through other stockbrokers, a fact that Angel One’s internal systems failed to identify.
Settlement Process and Resolution
To resolve the matter without the legal burden of a protracted battle, Angel One filed settlement applications in 2025. As is standard in such regulatory settlements, the company opted to settle without admitting or denying the findings of the regulator.
The settlement proposal was reviewed by SEBI’s Internal Committee and subsequently received approval from the High Powered Advisory Committee and a panel of Whole Time Members. Following the approval, Angel One remitted the ₹4.28 crore settlement fee on May 22, 2026. With this payment, the adjudication and enquiry proceedings have been officially disposed of under the SEBI Settlement Proceedings Regulations.
Key Takeaways
- Financial Penalty: Angel One paid ₹4.28 crore to SEBI to settle proceedings related to supervisory lapses.
- Operational Failures: The settlement addresses failures in monitoring unauthorised fund collections, social media misconduct, and disproportionate trading patterns by authorised persons.
- Regulatory Scrutiny: The case underscores SEBI's increasing focus on how major brokerages monitor their sub-brokers and authorised persons to prevent fraudulent client activities.