Trading curbs on suspected shell companies are imposed by India

India suddenly imposed trading restrictions on up to 162 shell companies. The given shocking move is considered to be a part of an intense crackdown on tax evasion as well as illegal offshore transfers.

Monday’s announcement by the Securities Exchange Board of India didn’t clarify what illegal activities the companies might have been involved in.

The restrictions suggest restricting trading in the affected companies to once a month as well as curbs in the trading of equities held by the promoters, not to mention the directors of the companies.

India’s government has been chasing companies it actually suspects of engaging in illegal transactions after the previous year’s ban on high-value currency bills, including evading taxes and "black money."

Some financial experts told these restrictions had taken market participants by surprise.

Financial experts stress that if these companies have been really practicing money-laundering, then severe penal action should be taken. On the contrary, If not, they should be immediately excluded from the list.