The Securities Appellate Tribunal set aside SEBI's two-year debarment of the Price Waterhouse network in the Satyam matter, holding that an auditor who does not deal in securities cannot be barred under the PFUTP framework absent cogent proof of fraud or connivance — mere audit negligence falls to the ICAI, not SEBI. The Supreme Court has since stayed the broad jurisdictional observation.
The Supreme Court held that front-running by a person who is not a registered intermediary is prohibited under the SEBI (PFUTP) Regulations 2003. 'Fraud' in Regulations 3 and 4 is read broadly to cover any act that induces another to deal in securities, even without deceit, and Regulation 4(2)(q) is not confined to intermediaries.