Unitholder say-so must for mutual fund scheme wind-up, says Sebi

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) at its board meeting on Tuesday mandated that trustees of the fund obtain consent of unitholders when they decide to wind up a scheme prematurely to redeem the units of a closed-ended scheme. 

“Further, the trustees shall obtain the consent of unitholders by a simple majority of unitholders present and voting on the basis of one vote per unit held and publish the results of voting within 45 days of the publication of notice of circumstances leading to winding up,” said Sebi in a media release.

In case the trustees fail to obtain consent, the scheme will open to business from the second business day after publication of the results of voting.

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court had stated that consent of a majority unitholders will be required before closing debt schemes. Market participants say the announcement by Sebi will shed more light on this.

Sebi also approved amendments to the mutual fund (MF) regulations to mandate MF schemes to follow Indian Accounting Standard (Ind AS) from 2023-24 onwards. Further, the board approved amendments to MF regulations with respect to accounting-related regulatory provisions to remove redundant provisions and bring in more clarity.