'No material deficiencies' & 'No regulatory violations'; says JM Financial in response to RBI action

A day after RBI's action on JM Financial the company responded saying it was not involved in any wrongdoing in sanctioning the loans and that the company had not violated any applicable regulations. However, the company said it will fully cooperate with RBI.

The company's stock crashed over 15% on Wednesday after the RBI barred it from doing any form of financing against shares and debentures as it found lags during a review of its books.

In a statement the NBFC said that, after a careful and detailed review of the order issued by the RBI, "we strongly believe that there have been no material deficiencies in our loan-sanctioning process".

"Further, the company has not violated applicable regulations. We also wish to reaffirm that there have been no governance issues whatsoever and we conduct all our business and operational affairs in a bonafide manner," it said.

While imposing curbs on JM Financial, RBI said it has observed 'serious deficiencies' in the records and has asked the company to stop and desist from doing any form of financing against shares including sanctioning and distributing loans against IPO of shares and subscription for debentures.

RBI's findings: JM Financing acted as Proxy

RBI pointed out that during the limited review, it was found that the company assisted a group of its customers in participating in various IPO and NCD offerings by providing them with borrowed funds. However, the credit assessment process was inadequate, and the financing was conducted with minimal margins.

The company managed the application process, Demat accounts, and bank accounts on behalf of these customers using a Power of Attorney and Master Agreement without their involvement in subsequent operations. Consequently, the company acted as both lender and borrower.

Additionally, the company facilitated the opening and operation of bank accounts using the Power of Attorney. These actions not only violate regulatory guidelines but also raise significant governance concerns that could harm customer interests.

What did JM Financial say about the findings?

"We will fully cooperate with (the) RBI in their special-audit initiative and explain our position to (the) RBI," JM Financial said. "We have been in the business of funding IPOs over the last two decades."

The IPO-financing product is short-term and self-liquidating in nature, and in the context of IPO funding, the power of attorney is taken as a risk-containment measure only, according to the spokesperson who spoke to NDTV Profit.

"The practice of taking Power of attorney is prevalent across the industry and is perfectly legal, the statement added.

The company's net income from IPO financing stands at ₹7 Crore for the first 9 months of FY24 and the IPO financing business constitutes 1.5% of the net total income.

Also Read: JM Financial shares crash over 15%, IIFL plunges another 20% amid RBI's crackdown