Sebi, Amfi To Review Mf Functioning

The Securities and Exchange Board of India and the Association of Mutual Funds in India will work together to review the structure of mutual funds and institution of trustees and ways and means of discharging the fiduciary responsibilities cast on trustees.

A P Kurien, chairman of Amfi, told newspersons yesterday that there is a trust and the asset management company where there is an overlapping of responsibility.

We are discussing the issue with Sebi on the restructuring of mutual funds in India, he said.

Amfi released its annual report and a code of ethics for its members. Among those who were present included besides Kurien, P J Nayak, UTI executive Trustee, K N Atmaramani, managing director of Tata MF, Vivek Reddy, chief executive of Kothari Pioneer, A P Pradhan of GIC AMC and K N Vaidyanathan of Morgan Stanley AMC.

Amfi would approach Sebi to set up a self regulatory organisation on the lines of the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD).

The FIRE project funded by USAID and administered by Price Waterhouse sponsored 7 participants from the Indian Mutual Fund Industry, Sebi and MoF, for a mutual fund leadership training programme.

AMFI is also planning to study the effect of guarantees and assured returns to enable Sebi to take a position on the issue. The association is in favour of having assured return schemes for the category of investors which seeks a low risk investment.

Amfi is also expecting Sebis reply on its observations on the model offer document. Says K N Atmaramani: We have suggested some cosmetic changes in it. For example, Sebi wants the previous history of all schemes while we feel that the information about the last three schemes is enough.