NEW DELHI: The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has barred merchant banker First Overseas Capital Limited (FOCL) from the securities market for two years and imposed a penalty of Rs 20 lakh for repeated violations of regulatory norms.

The market regulator's action comes after two inspections: one in August 2022, which covered April 2021 to March 2022, and another in February 2024, which covered April 2022 to October 2023. Numerous violations were found during the inspections, such as underwriting commitments that exceeded 20 times the company's net worth, participation in non-securities market activities, and failure to maintain the required minimum net worth of Rs 5 crore.

In blatant violation of merchant banking laws, SEBI claims that FOCL also took deposits from the gene

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