Jignesh Shah: He Came, He Saw, He Conquered!

An engineering graduate from Mumbai University, joined the BSE, where he worked on designing and implementing the exchange’s online trading system-BOLT. What pained him the most was that the Indian stock markets were not keen on modernizing or trade on sleek, imported terminals? He was none other but the one who is being popularly known as ‘India’s Exchange Man’- Jignesh Shah.

However, the system was resistant to change and hence, Jignesh Shah quit BSE and set up his own company FTIL, now known as 63 moons technologies limited, to provide technology solutions and domain expertise to financial markets across all asset classes.

Shah went on to set up 10 world-class exchange companies under his flagship company FTIL, in various asset classes, in just 10 years across India and abroad. The Group established electronic silk and spice routes right from Africa, to the Middle-East and South-East Asia. The growth story of FTIL has been about empowering people. Its Exchanges and ecosystem ventures were job-oriented and employment.

As FTIL began to succeed, Jignesh Shah started wondering how government agencies and other regulators were unfairly targeting him. Like most indigenous growth stories, FTIL' s meteoric growth soon became a cause of worry for the rival players, who had monopolised the Indian financial markets with the blessings of the powerful politicians. Subsequently, this nexus hatched a sinister plot to throw out the Group from Exchange business by killing competition. To achieve this motive, a subsidiary of FTIL, the National Spot Exchange Limited (NSEL) which was set up as per the vision of the then Prime Minister, was made a scapegoat to hatch a conspiracy against the FTIL Group.

Despite several challenges created for Jignesh Shah & FTIL, Shah continued to stand tall and faced all slanderous allegations with a brave heart, keeping full faith in the judiciary. Most of the charges pressed  against his companies are being quashed by top courts in the country. In his new innings, Shah now desires to be a mentor for millions of Indian entrepreneurs to develop a startup ecosystem for the masses that could create up to 10 crore jobs over the next 10 years.

Jignesh Shah: The Man Who Rose Like A Phoneix

From being a rookie engineer to a billionaire even before he hit the age of 40 years, tech innovator, Mr Jignesh Shah, has been great motivation to a number of youth in India and outside. Somebody who began with his own company in 1995, setting up as many as 9 world-class exchanges all over the world, was nothing short of spectacular for his contemporaries.

However, seeing his rapid rise, certain vested interests worked around the corner to bring him down using illegal, unjust and unfair means. This nexus of politicians and bureaucrats went beyond harming him and his exchange empire of the 63 moons group.

His flagship company, 63 moons technologies limited, then known as FTIL was dragged into an artificially created Rs 5,600 crore payment default crisis at one of its subsidiaries, the National Spot Exchange Limited (NSEL). Time has been a witness to all the concentrated actions that have been taken against the company and its founder Mr Jignesh Shah without any adjudication at all.

However, the tide changed and finally the wheels of justice started rolling. In April 2019, the Supreme Court set aside the Bombay High Court judgment approving the forced merger of crisis-hit NSEL with parent company, 63 moons, in so-called public interest under Section 396 of the Companies Act stating that there was no public interest involved in passing the order.

In August 2019, the Bombay High Court, too, quashed attaching assets of Mr Jignesh Shah’s company 63 moons technologies in the NSEL case as it ruled NSEL was not a financial establishment. Mr Jignesh Shah’s entrepreneurial journey shows that if you are right and the truth is on your side, no force, however evil, can defeat you ultimately. His rise from the ashes after the annihilation of his group company reminds you of the proverbial rise of the Phoenix!

Jignesh Shah: Courting Battles For The Sake Of Truth & Justice!

When you start growing, you are bound to encounter a lot of opposition and ridicule. But if you survive that, you ultimately win. This goes well in the case of Jignesh Shah.

More than two decades ago, Mr. Jignesh Shah, a young innovator and entrepreneur founded 63 moons technologies then known as Financial Technologies. With his innovative zeal and entrepreneurial aggression, he turned it into one of the finest examples of Make in India, creating 9 robust exchanges across the globe in a variety of asset classes including commodities, currency, equity, energy and bonds in as many years.

However, Jignesh Shah’s rapid growth in the markets was looked upon as a threat by certain monopolistic forces who envied the company. These forces joined hands with certain vested interests to form an unholy nexus that created an artificial payment default crisis at one of the subsidiaries of 63 moons—the National Spot Exchange Limited (NSEL) in 2013. The entire money trail of the default amount was traced to the 24 defaulting entities by the investigating agencies, and not a paisa was found with NSEL, FTIL and its founder, Mr. Jignesh Shah. But all these facts were ignored, and 63 moons was ridiculed and attacked with vengeance. Despite the witch hunt, the company is emerging victorious as truth eventually prevails!

The Hon’ble Supreme Court set aside the forced merger of 63 moons with NSEL on 30th April 2019 i.e. almost after 6 years of NSEL crisis. While pronouncing the judgment, the apex Court laid down the precise definition and the elaborate criterion for what constitutes ‘public interest’. And, just few months after this victory, a very big relief came in the form of another big judgment where 63 moons won MPID case in Bombay High Court. The High Court stated that the NSEL is not a financial establishment and hence notifications for attachment of the company’s assets including bank accounts and properties under the MPID Act stand quashed. These judicial pronouncements are a big victory for the corporate India at large!

Jignesh Shah: Man With Grit & Determination

With the recent Bombay High Court order which quashed attachment of assets of Jignesh Shah’s flagship company 63 moons technologies in the National Spot Exchange Limited (NSEL) case, the age-old adage that slow and steady wins the race is finally coming to terms.

The court ruled that NSEL is not a financial establishment and hence notifications for attachment of the company’s assets, including bank accounts and properties under the MPID (Maharashtra Protection of Interests of Depositors in Financial Establishments) Act stand quashed.

NSEL, its parent company 63 moons, and founder, Jignesh Shah were persecuted under the MPID Act despite the said act not being applicable to a markets dispute. This was done under the pressure mounted by big brokers backed by the then finance minister, P Chidambaram in the UPA government who wanted to favour NSE, where he had vested interests.

While the assets of NSEL and its promoters were hastily attached under the provisions of MPID, the same brokers cried foul when it was time to taste their own medicine. The NSEL in December 2018 had filed a writ petition before the Bombay High Court, questioning the Maharashtra Government for its inaction against the brokers and trading members in attaching their assets. The court had issued a notice to the state government asking it to seize the assets of the accused brokers.

Jignesh Shah has continued his legal fight against the injustice meted out to him & always placed utmost faith in the judiciary. It is this belief in truth that is rewarding him now as one after another, his company is winning cases in the courts and justice is knocking on his doors!

Jignesh Shah: The Tide Is Turning In Favour Of Truth

One of the most powerful and influential companies in the exchange spaces is 63 moons technologies limited. Under the leadership of Mr Jignesh Shah, the company has made a mark in the exchange markets and proved itself as a world leader. Needless to say, 63 moons has been able to comfortably write its success story despite severe competition from some well-established market players.

However, it seems that Mr Jignesh Shah was punished for being a visionary and bringing about a change in the market ecosystem. The market regulator and the investigating agencies refused to look at the other side and directed actions against the exchange, its parent company and Mr Jignesh Shah in the payment default crisis at one of the subsidiaries of the company—the National Spot Exchange Limited (NSEL).

However, with certain recent developments, all lies around the NSEL crisis have been nailed with the court orders. In April 2019, the Supreme Court set aside a Bombay High Court judgment approving the merger of crisis-hit NSEL with parent company, 63 moons, in public interest under Section 396 of the Companies Act.

In another judgment, in August 2019, the Bombay High Court also quashed the attachment of assets of 63 moons in the NSEL case. It’s now quite evident that finally, the tide is turning in favour of truth which is being seen as a big victory for Mr Jignesh Shah, 63 moons, its shareholders and employees.

While the assets of NSEL and its promoters were hastily attached under the provisions of MPID, the same brokers cried foul when it was time to taste their own medicine. The NSEL in December 2018 had filed a writ petition before the Bombay High Court, questioning the Maharashtra Government for its inaction against the brokers and trading members in attaching their assets.

Jignesh Shah To Create One Crore Jobs In New Avatar

Jignesh Shah’s story is really inspiring and motivates a lot of youth across the country, his journey is more than exciting, challenging and worth taking inspiration from. Jignesh Shah was targeted by vested interests who perceived him as a threat.

After a payment default crisis of Rs. 5,600 crores in 2013 at his smallest venture National Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL), which had a daily trading volume of Rs 200 crore as compared to more than Rs. 1.20 lakh crore a day at his biggest exchange MCX, Shah was forced out of all SEBI- Regulated Businesses under regulatory orders amid a multi-agency probe. This was despite that not a single paisa of the default money was traced to him, NSEL or the parent 63 moons technologies but the entire amount was traced to the 24 defaulting traders of NSEL.

However, even after seeing so much of downfall and being targeted, Jignesh Shah feels that the time has come to start his second inning as court orders are absolving him of all the charges one after another as no agency could prove even a single paisa of money trail to him or to his group and not a single wrongdoing on his part and nor on part of his companies. He feels that all the lies are being nailed down one after another through the courts.

Jignesh Shah now sees 100 times bigger business potential in the Start-Up ecosystem after having set up 14 exchange companies across 6 continents in a span of 10 years in his earlier stint and feels he can create 10 crore jobs over the next decade for the country’s youth.

This time, Jignesh Shah wants to focus more on mentoring and help youngsters with innovative ideas and help them to live their entrepreneurship dreams by providing them with a platform for institutionalization, globalization, and scaling up for their ventures.

Jignesh Shah was quoted saying in the newspapers,“I want to be a coach now and nurture young entrepreneurs by putting in my entire experience and everything I have got to create world-class and world-scale institutions in all the verticals that we will work in. I want to create a big assembly line of future Jignesh Shahs."

He said,"I created and nurtured a business that made India the world's second largest marketplace in commodities trading and we were on the top in all businesses our exchanges did. And this feat was achieved in a political environment that was not very conducive. Now the time is conducive with a strong political  leadership under PM Narendra Modi."

Jignesh Shah: Fighting Against All Odds

The payment default at the National Spot Exchange Limited (NSEL) was a premeditated crisis as is evident by recent developments now. It began when the then market regulator Forward Markets Commission (FMC) triggered a payment crisis by seeking sudden closure of a running exchange.

During the last six years, no actions were taken against the erring brokers, who were found to have indulged in numerous market abuses in mis-selling products and the defaulters who chose not to pay despite a clear-cut money trail to them. The whole of the focus of vested interests controlled by then finance minister P Chidambaram was on pinning down Mr. Jignesh Shah, founder and currently chairman emeritus, 63 moons technologies limited because his exchanges posed competition to Chidambaram’s pet exchange, the NSE.

Six years of persecution later, truth has finally prevailed. In August 2019, the Bombay High Court quashed attachment of assets of Mr Jignesh Shah’s flagship company 63 moons technologies in the NSEL case as it ruled that NSEL was not a financial establishment and hence notifications for attachment of the company’s assets, including bank accounts and properties under the MPID (Maharashtra Protection of Interests of Depositors in Financial Establishments) Act stand quashed.

In April 2019, the Supreme Court also set aside a Bombay High Court judgment approving the merger of crisis-hit NSEL with the parent company, 63 moons, in public interest under Section 396 of the Companies Act.

Perhaps, never in the corporate history of this country, a conspiracy of such a high magnitude was created against a corporate house fearing its growth. It was Mr Jignesh Shah’s faith in the judiciary that justice finally came knocking on his doors! Long live truth, long live justice!