Go beyond the rulebook, follow the money

The track record of Sebi and the Securities Appellate Tribunal makes it appear that their effort is to help and not hurt the accused

Last week, Axis Mutual Fund removed Viresh Joshi as fund manager from five schemes and Deepak Agarwal, the assistant fund manager for equity, from three schemes. As rumours started swirling about malpractices, which had led to their removal, Axis MF stated it had been investigating since February 2022, using “reputed external advisors” to aid the investigation. As part of the process, two fund managers have been suspended pending the investigation of potential irregularities. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is examining whether fund managers at Axis MF engaged in “front-running”, or trading securities ahead of the fund’s transactions.