Page Industries discloses 'inadvertent' FEMA violation, shares tank

KOLKATA: Page Industries, the exclusive licensee for Jockey and Speedo brands, said it "inadvertently" violated retail trading provisions under India's foreign exchange law, but has since complied with the regulations. The company said it approached the Reserve Bank of India in May seeking compounding to settle the matter, but was advised to first obtain post-facto approval from the government for the trades that violated the rules.

The company is in the process of applying to the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade for the approval, chief financial officer Deepanjan Bandyopadhyay told analysts on Thursday.

The company expects the RBI to compound the non-compliance and sees no material financial impact from it, Page Industries said in its second-quarter earnings statement.


Following the disclosure, shares of the company closed more than 12% lower at Rs 32,059.50 on the BSE Thursday.

Page Industries said it inadvertently carried out retail trading of imported Jockey- and Speedo-branded products through ecommerce platforms without establishing physical retail stores, going against the rules that it identified last year.

Such retail trading of imported products of multiple brands was not in accordance with the retail trading provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management (Non-Debt Instruments) Rules, 2019, issued under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999, it said.