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Context is everything.
Detailed stories on technology startups, business and economic current affairs.
Detailed stories on technology startups, business and economic current affairs.
An interim order by SEBI on last year’s front-running scandal is in the nature of a wake-up call for the fund house to address the issues that continue to dog it.
Editor's note: On Wednesday, the Securities and Exchange Board of India issued an interim order against Axis Mutual Fund’s former chief trader and fund manager Viresh Joshi. The ex parte order barred Joshi and 20 of his alleged accomplices from the securities market till a final order is issued. The action by the capital markets regulator is in response to the revelations last year that some of the mutual fund’s employees were involved in a front-running scandal. But, being an interim order, there’s more to come. SEBI’s year-long investigation is yet to arrive at a final conclusion. It was in this connection that Amitabh Chaudhary, CEO of Axis Bank, met SEBI officials earlier this month. He wants a quick end to the overhang on the bank’s mutual funds business (a joint venture with UK-based asset manager Schroders). But SEBI officials told him that “they are waiting to see what action the bank takes in the matter. Then only they will decide the penalty,” says a person with direct knowledge of the matter. Axis Mutual Fund, on its part, had fired Joshi last …
As growth in equities cools, asset managers are looking to embed themselves in payrolls, payments, and credit. This raises their influence, but also the stakes.
As retail interest in public issuances fades, mutual funds are filling the gap—funding promoter exits and delivering subpar returns to the very investors they represent.
Atanu Chakraborty’s resignation does not appear as damaging as the bank’s response to it. The ‘all is well’ narrative needs an independent audit.
