The arrest of former NSE group operating officer Anand Subramaniam by the CBI in the colocation scam is just another “red herring”, stock market analysts, who are closely monitoring the developments, told News18.com.
Anand Subramaniam He was arrested from Chennai on Thursday night after the CBI expanded its probe into the colocation scam at the National Stock Exchange. Himalayan Yogi Guidance on the actions of former CEOs Chitra Ramakrishna,
colocation scam
Ramakrishna, who replaced former CEO Ravi Narayan in 2013, had appointed Subramaniam as his advisor, who was later promoted as Group Operations Officer (GOO) with a pay check of Rs 4.21 crore.
Subramaniam’s controversial appointment and subsequent promotion, apart from key decisions, was directed by an unidentified person whom Ramakrishna claimed was a formless mystical yogi living in the Himalayas, during a SEBI-ordered audit of Ramakrishna’s emails. Checking the exchanges revealed that. It was alleged in an audit that Subramaniam was a Yogi, but SEBI in its final report on February 11 rejected that claim.
Ramakrishna left NSE in December 2016. On February 11, SEBI accused him and others of appointing Subramaniam as Chief Strategic Adviser and his re-designation as Group Operations Officer and Advisor to MD. The CBI, which had been probing the co-location scam against a Delhi-based stock broker since 2018, swung into action after a SEBI report that showed alleged abuse of power by the then top officials of the NSE.
Read also | NSE co-location scam: Know how Chitra Ramakrishna-Himalayan Yogi controversy unfolded
The alleged scam pertains to allegations that some brokers got improper preferential access to NSE servers. The stock prices on the trading screen change every microsecond.
In 2014-15, a whistleblower had complained to SEBI that some brokers had misused the co-location facility in connivance with some top NSE officials. NSE was then using the so-called tick-by-tick (TBT) server protocol to relay the data to the members.
The strange thing about this protocol is how it distributes information. Common data protocols send data to all users connected to a network at the same time. But TBT transmits in the order of received commands. In other words, the user who first gains access to the system will get the data earlier than the rest.
Who is Anand Subramaniam?
“He is the youngest. He is not even the pawn of the game. He is just a red herring,” said MR Venkatesh, a senior advocate and chartered accountant based in Delhi.
Speaking to News18.com, Venkatesh said that the stories being spread around the involvement of a “Himalayan yogi”, who had allegedly advised former NSE chief Chitra Ramakrishna, led to Subramaniam’s arrest and the search for the faceless yogi. It’s a way to distract. , “The real target should be the co-location scam. It’s all just collateral damage. A way to distract everyone from the real issue,” he said.
Although little is known about Anand Subramaniam’s early life, his rise and influence after Ramakrishna promoted him as his advisor and GOO at NSE is well documented by a SEBI order against the former NSE chief and five others. has been documented.
The CBI probe into the co-location scam has allegedly linked Subramaniam to Chitra Ramakrishna not only professionally but also through family ties.
Those who have met Subramaniam say that he has always been a very intelligent person. While many are now familiar with his name after the NSE controversy, Subramaniam’s history and rise to the top remains an enigma.
Recalling his first meeting with Subramaniam, a senior investment advisor from Chennai, who sought anonymity, described him as a man who would stand out in the crowd.
“We have met a couple of times. Once I went to see him at an NSE event in Chennai. The first thing that impressed me was his dressing sense. He wore a smart formal look with lines of holy ash on his forehead. Was wearing a suit. That image was stuck in my head. I went up to him and introduced myself, but his reaction was quite harsh,” he said.
“It is very surprising to us how a person like him is completely non-existent on social media, has no idea or even a proper picture,” he said.
A senior market analyst told News18.com that Subramaniam was a “man behind the scenes”.
“We always felt that there was more to Anand Subramaniam apart from his role in NSE. He was a ‘behind the scenes’ person who had a strong control over what was happening inside the NSE and only interacted with the powerful.”
The analyst described him as a “smooth and silent operator” – who did not disclose that his wife Sunita Anand was heading NSE’s Chennai regional office for the period between April 1, 2013 and March 31, 2014. She was
“We were not aware that Subbu (as she was called in Chennai circle) was actually Sunita’s wife. They will also not be seen at business parties or random events. His interactions with people are very limited and he is very selective about who he will talk to. Sometimes his behavior borders on arrogance,” said another stock market analyst from Chennai.
As of 2013, Subramaniam was working as a mid-level executive for a subsidiary of Balmer Lawrie, with an annual compensation of Rs 15 lakh. In April 2013, Ramakrishna brought him on as Chief Strategic Advisor to the MD with a hefty pay check of Rs 1.68 crore per annum, which was increased to Rs 4.21 crore by 2017, the compensation above the pay grade.
As per the SEBI order, his appointment by Ramakrishna was also done illegally without advertisement or keeping the HR department in the loop. His wife Sunita Anand was also getting a “huge salary”.
read all breaking news, today’s fresh news And Assembly Election Live Updates Here.
,