Coronavirus outbreak: Sebi eases compliance requirements for brokers, MFs

Sebi release also hints that authorities intend to keep the markets open despite demands to keep it close to prevent it from falling

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has met mutual fund (MF) industry's demands for relaxing norms pertaining to compliance requirements. The MF industry had sought certain exemptions from the Sebi. These pertain to compliance requirements for order executions following the government’s work-from-home directive, meeting sectoral exposure norms in debt schemes amid a liquidity crunch, and an increase in borrowing limits as redemptions could spike due to the virus scare.

The industry had also informed the regulator that in the prevailing environment, where MFs as well as registrar and transfer agents (RTAs) have been hit by lower staff strength, it