Mumbai, Aug. 19 -- The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has passed an ex-parte interim order against Copthall Mauritius Investment Limited and Mansi Share and Stock Broking Private Limited over prima facie manipulative trading during the Closing Auction Session (CAS) on the BSE Sensex expiry day on August 13.

According to the order, SEBI observed three sharp movements in the Sensex during the CAS, with the index rising 362.02 points in two seconds, 132.67 points in 12 seconds and 405.08 points in 28 seconds.

SEBI said Copthall accounted for 99.91 per cent of the buy-order value during the first spike, 96.09 per cent during the second and 85.21 per cent during the third period. The regulator observed that Copthall placed agg...