Madhabi Puri Buch: SEBI chief Madhabi Puri Buch asks fund houses to self-regulate – Times of India

Mumbai:

SEBI Chairman Madhabi Puri Book On Tuesday asked the mutual fund industry to self-regulate and take action against misbehavior by individuals.
If SEBI finds that individual misdeeds have not been punished by fund houses, the regulator will have “no option but to come down like a sledgehammer”, and it could impact the entire industry, he said. . “The greatest risk to the growth of the mutual fund industry is individual abuse,” Butch said.
The SEBI chief’s message to fund industry leaders was, “Do what is right. Not the one that is easy.” She was speaking at the inauguration of the new office of mutual fund trade body AMFI. He asked the fund industry to regulate itself, otherwise SEBI would have to step in.

Butch, however, insisted that the fund industry was safe and some of the regulatory changes brought in recently have made it ready to build that super structure. He added that the industry currently manages about Rs 41 lakh crore of investors’ money and Rs 100 lakh crore of assets under management (AUM) is not far away.
SEBI chief’s strong words for fund industry come in the backdrop of recent regulatory ban on ex-dealer of Axis MF viresh joshi, During the pandemic, when people across all industries were working from home, Joshi Was fronting the business of the fund to earn illegal profits for himself and his family members. Axis MF Joshi has been sacked, but according to some industry watchers the decision has come too late.
In March, Axis MF MD Chandresh Nigam Had to resign and leave the fund house as well. In its report on Joshi, Sebi indicated that it was probing several others linked to the same case.
The SEBI chief said that transparency is the core value of the industry and added that the industry should focus on upholding the spirit of the law and not just compliance.
The SEBI chief also asked the MF industry to strengthen the infrastructure of the sector and invest in technology. She said that the MF industry has not made any significant progress in using technology and asked top leaders to look at how they can leverage technology in a more investor-friendly manner.