After demonetisation of ₹500 and ₹1000 rupee notes various authorities noticed a surge in shell companies depositing cash in banks, possibly in an attempt to hide the real owner of the wealth. In response, in July 2017, the authorities ordered nearly 2 lakh shell companies to be shut down while Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) imposed trading restrictions on 162 listed entities as shell companies. In September 2017, the government froze bank accounts of nearly 2 lakh shell companies. A day after, the Corporate Affairs ministry decided to ban around 300,000 directors of shell companies from serving on the boards of other firms to track down the beneficial owners of suspected shell companies and take penal action against those who divert funds from these shell companies.