Anil Ambani says market 'ban' voluntary

MUMBAI: Indian billionaire Anil Ambani on Sunday denied that regulators had barred him from investing in the stock market, saying he had volunteered the condition to end a long-running technical dispute.

His settlement with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) agreed that he can not invest in the stock market until December, while two of his firms cannot make investments until December 2012.

Calling the Sebi deal "fair and just", Ambani said that he had voluntarily proposed the terms of the settlement.

"There has been large-scale misrepresentation and wrong analysis (by the media)," Ambani told reporters at a press conference on Sunday. "Sebi has not barred me or my companies from the markets."

The settlement affects two firms that are part of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani group (R-ADAG).

Sebi has been investigating investments by Reliance Infrastructure and Reliance Natural Resources Ltd (RNRL) since 2009.

The settlement was reached after Ambani agreed to a consent order and payment of 500 million rupees ($11 million) as settlement charges.

The payment was not a "penalty or fine", he said, adding it was made to protect investors' interests and avoid lengthy litigation.

Sebi issued notices against Ambani and his group of companies in June as part of a probe into the possible breach of trading rules in securities.

Investigations found that Reliance Infrastructure and RNRL "misrepresented the nature of investments" and profit and loss statements in annual reports between 2007 and 2009, Sebi said.