The SEBI investigation into the June payment crises continues to spew out curious facts. Sources say that SEBI has questioned BSE executive director (ED) R.C.Mathur on his purchase of rigged up BPL andVideocon shares a little before the June crises (this writer has copies of his transfer deeds). SEBI,it is said is looking at the propriety of the BSE E.D purchasing the shares, since he was party to the subsequent cover up of the payment problem and has sanctioned the opening of the BSE computers. Will it lead to restrictions on BSE office bearers playing the market?

Vendetta Time

The insider trading battle between SEBI and Hindustan Lever is beginning to look like vendetta. Nobody missed the fact that a criminal case filed on November 23 against HLL's directors was leaked to the press, on the very day that Unilever chairman Niall FitzGerald was addressing the corporate elite of Mumbai last week. Did it unnerve HLL's investors ? The share price moved up Rs 20 that day.Embarassing Lapse

On the other hand, India Today's revelations of BSE director Rajendra Bhantia's underworld connections are doing more damage to SEBI's reputation. It may be recalled that SEBI had first caught Bhantia's manipulation across stock exchanges in 1995, but he was allowed to remain the treasurer and went on to become vice-president. SEBI finally indicted the broker in October along with several others and ordered them to stop trading. The brokers went to court protesting against the SEBI decision. When the matter came up for hearing last Friday, SEBI seemed to have suffered a curious shortage of lawyers and was represented by a relative junior in court. The brokers walked away with another reprieve of 15 days.

Bear Punching Error

Last week a punching error in the ITC scrip caused the price to jump from Rs 675 to Rs 725 and helped the BSE sensitive index jump 45 points. While some say that the false trade may have been a bear trap to force them to square up, a big market operator wasan inadvertent (?) beneficiary. The broker had nearly Rs 300 crores of outstanding trades (including off market deals) was finding it difficult to find a financier to take on his badla risk. He finally did an off-market financing deal at a badla rate of over 21 percent (far higher than the official figure). But his financiers were demanding additional margins because the price continued to fall. The sudden jump in ITC, sent the bears scurrying for cover and got them off the brokers' case. The market is waiting to see if the punching error lets the big operator off the hook, or will the bears be back on Monday to hammer the price down.

Fading Halo?

Has HDFC lost its special halo? Four years ago when foreigners were investing heavily in India, HDFC, with its transparency, professionalism, focus and franchise was a must-buy. But now, the scrip seems to have joined other financial institutions (FIs) in moving steadily downwards. Of course, it is still high compared to other FIs. The steady decline,irrespective of the index, is worrying HDFC fans. Unlimited Tolerance

For those fed up with government owned utilities -- the telephone and electricity departments frequently excavating pavements and leaving them in a mess, there is more bad news. Hughes Ispat Ltd. (HIL), the first basic telephone provider has been busy digging up Mumbai's pavements for over a month now. Has the MNC brought in better technology or is it even ensuring that the pavements are quickly and properly covered up? Nope. In fact, it is messier than MTNL and MSEB put together. There are no protests from harried citizens because they think that it is MTNL doing the digging. Hughe has smartly ensured that its barricades merely say `HIL' which means precisely nothing to the average person. But where are the environmentalists?