Hatsun Agro To Probe 'Accidental' Leak Of Draft Q3 Result On WhatsApp
The company said it will be informing this incident to the Audit Committee and the board shortly and will internally probe the matter as per regulatory necessities.
Hatsun Agro Product Ltd. on Monday said a senior company executive inadvertently uploaded the draft figures of the third quarter financial statements to his personal Whatsapp status, before deleting them.
A Key Managerial Personnel, while sharing the first cut draft of the unaudited financial statements internally with the accounts department of the company, inadvertently uploaded the draft figures to his personal Whatsapp status Sunday evening, according to a stock exchange filing. The draft figures may constitute certain Unpublished Price Sensitive Information (UPSI).
The Whatsapp status was seen by around 19 people in his contact list including some company insiders. Immediately on becoming aware of this incident, the KMP deleted the above WhatsApp Status within an hour's time from his phone, Hatsun Agro said.
"Though these figures were in a very draft form and are subject to changes during the ongoing limited review process, as a precautionary measure and in compliance with the philosophy of the company of following the high degree of corporate governance, we are reporting this incident to the stock exchanges," the filing said.
The company said it will be informing the incident to the Audit Committee and the board shortly and will internally probe the matter as per regulatory necessities. It did not disclose the name or designation of the KMP.
The inquiry committee's report will be disclosed to the public. Additionally, the company is in the process of including all the persons who viewed the alleged Whatsapp status in its 'Structured Digital Database', the filing said.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India has strict insider trading rules under the Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements Regulations, 2015. Such rules mandate that company insiders can't trade or communicate UPSI to make unfair gains in the securities market.
Shares of Hatsun Agro settled 1.6% lower at Rs 963.35 on the NSE, ahead of the disclosure, compared to a 0.3% decline in the benchmark Nifty 50. The stock has fallen 5% in the last 12 months.
