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With all due respect, as much as I applaud SEBI’s slapping Basant Maheshwari, the slap’s size is a joke. Just Rs 4 lakh fine! 🙏🙏 Let’s dissect the rot. Maheshwari’s firm, Basant Maheshwari Wealth Advisers LLP, runs a SEBI-registered PMS, raking in crores — Rs 10 crore in revenue for FY23, per Moneycontrol. Yet, he’s stooped to YouTube clickbaits that’d make a tabloid blush - “100x in 3 years?” and “1 Crore Ko Double Kaise Kare?” and so on. And he was using these to get people to invest in his smallcase. That’s not advice - it’s a lottery ticket dressed up as wisdom. .. SEBI’s inspection from October to December 2023 found these captions weren’t just hype—they lacked disclaimers, flouting rules mandating clear risk warnings. Maheshwari claimed his videos were “knowledge enrichment for the public.” - SEBI called bullshit, noting the disclaimers were either buried or absent, leaving viewers—many novice investors—to swallow the bait whole - And, the fine’s not just for captions. SEBI dug deeper—dual fee structures fleecing clients, shoddy audits delayed beyond deadlines, and sketchy Assets Under Advisory (AUA) reporting Taking all of that into account, the Rs 4 lakh penalty—payable in 45 days or face property seizure—barely dents his wallet. .. But yes, beyond that, the message is louder: clean up or get out. YouTube’s financial space is a cesspit of clickbait — titles like “10x Your Money in 6 Months!” or “Secret Stocks to Crores!” litter the platform, racking up millions of views. Channels churn out thumbnails and captions promising the moon, preying on the 70% of Indian investors with less than five years’ experience. Maheshwari’s fine at least sets a precedent. Look at PR Sundar, who coughed up Rs 6 crore in 2023 to settle unregistered advisory charges, or Asmita Patel, banned in February 2025 with Rs 53 crore impounded for similar scams. The regulator’s cracking down, and it’s about time. .. As reputed as he may be, Maheshwari’s captions weren’t just misleading — they were reckless, dangling impossible gains without context. If a registered advisor with decades of cred can’t resist the lure, what’s stopping unregistered nobodies? India’s financial literacy rate languishes at 27% (NCFE, 2023), and its investors deserve better than glitzy lies.