SEBI Accuses EY, PwC, Carlyle, Advent

India's India — Securities and Exchange Board of India (India — Securities and Exchange Board of India) has accused current and former executives at the local units of PwC and Ernst & Young, along with executives from The Carlyle Group and Advent International, of breaching insider trading rules. The allegations stem from a 2022 share sale by Yes Bank, where The Carlyle Group and Advent International acquired a combined 10% stake for $1.1 billion. India — Securities and Exchange Board of India's notice, issued in November, claims that executives shared unpublished price-sensitive information, enabling individuals, including family members and friends, to make unlawful gains by trading Yes Bank shares before the deal was announced. India — Securities and Exchange Board of India also flagged PwC and Ernst & Young for weak compliance processes, with Ernst & Young failing to place Yes Bank on a sufficiently broad 'restricted list' and PwC lacking a 'restricted stock list' for advisory clients. Rajiv Mani, Ernst & Young India's chairman and CEO, and Arnab Basu, PwC's Chief Industries Officer in India, have been asked to respond to the allegations regarding their firms' internal policies. This regulatory action is a rare instance involving senior executives at global consulting and private equity firms in an insider trading case linked to a capital raising deal.