Relief for 63moons: Bombay HC says NSEL not financial firm

Mumbai, Aug 22 (IANS) In a major victory for fintech firm 63moons, the Bombay High Court on Thursday ruled that National Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL) is not a financial institution and attachment of the properties of 63moons (formerly Financial Technologies) under the MPID Act should be vacated.

63moons, the parent company of NSEL, said in a statement that the court ruling is a victory for the company. The court also declined to stay its order as was requested by the Economic Offences Wing (EoW) of Mumbai Police.

"We have considered the arguments of the learned senior counsel appearing on both sides and we are of the express view that on exhaustive discussion, we have already concluded that NSEL is not an 'financial establishment' within the purview of the Maharashtra Protection of Interests of Depositors (MPID) in Financial Establishments Act, 1999, and in such circumstances, we decline the prayer made by the learned senior counsel (Rafique) Dada," the order said.

The two-judge bench of Bharati H. Dangre and Ranjit More on Thursday ruled that the Act is not applicable in terms of NSEL as it is not a financial institution. As a result of the order, the assets attached under MPID Act would be released.

The company said that it is in the business of developing and selling technology products for facilitating trading on exchanges such as stock and commodity exchanges and claims to have more than 63,000 shareholders and over 800 employees.

"The petitioner claims to be a leader in the financial technologies market and has developed a software by name 'ODIN' and it is claimed that this software has provided a platform for online trading and it is claimed by the petitioner that it has become a market leader due to its effort and determination," the court judgement said.