As the $1 billion investment limit is about to get breached, markets regulator Sebi has told asset management companies (AMCs) to stop fresh subscriptions in overseas ETFs with effect from April 1, 2024, according to sources aware of the development. In a communique to mutual fund houses, industry body Association of Mutual Funds of India (AMFI) has said investments in non-ETF overseas securities may continue till further notice. The regulator has issued these instructions to AMFI, which in turn, has informed it to fund houses. Mutual funds have also been asked to value the utilisation of over ..read more

India’s capital markets regulator has ordered local mutual fund managers to stop accepting money in plans that invest in overseas exchange traded funds (ETFs) as a $1-billion cumulative sectoral limit for such investments is close to being breached. RBI regulates the fund inflows and outflows involving locally pooled investments in overseas financial assets. Currently, there is an overall industry level limit of $7 billion for investments into overseas mutual funds, and an additional $1-billion limit for foreign ETFs. Sebi has asked the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) to direct fun ..read more

ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund has changed the fundamental attribute of ICICI Prudential Commodities Fund. The scheme may also invest in units of Silver ETFs in addition to the existing asset classes. ICICI Prudential Commodities Fund invests in multiple asset classes like equity, debt, gold ETFs, and REITs among others. The changes will be effective from May 6, 2024. The fund house informed the unit holders through a notice-cum-addendum. After the proposed changes, the scheme will allocate 80-100% in equity and equity-related instruments of companies engaged in commodity and commodity-related s ..read more

Nippon India Mutual Fund has decided to revise the exit load and limit subscriptions in Nippon India Small Cap Fund. The fund house informed about this to the investors through a notice-cum-addendum. The changes will be effective from March 22. The fund house mentioned that with effect from October 1, 2012, exit load if charged to the scheme shall be credited to the scheme immediately net of goods and service tax, if any. The revision in exit load shall be applicable on a prospective basis to; (a) all the subscription transactions (including switch-in) processed with NAV of March 22, 2024, and ..read more

Aditya Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund has introduced daily frequency under SIP facility in 30 mutual fund schemes. The fund house informed about this to its unitholders through a notice-cum-addendum. This facility will be effective from March 19. Investors can avail daily SIP through online mode i.e. through website and mobile application of the fund house and other digital platforms as may be decided from time to time. The fund house further stated that daily SIP shall be processed on all business days. The SIP instalment will be skipped if it falls on a non-business day for the scheme(s) or on a ..read more

Sebi-enforced stress tests of various smallcap and mutual fund schemes are unnecessarily spooking the market as there is no scientific basis for the calculations being done by fund houses, Sebi’s former executive director and top lawyer Sandeep Parekh said. “It assumes liquidity to be a constant at best and extrapolates the past into the future at worst. If liquidity actually vanishes in a particular stock, it can just vanish not in 6 days or 14 days or whatever other metric is used – it will vanish in a microsecond. Analysis by extrapolation may or may not work. Yes, liquidity is often higher ..read more

Customers or depositors can claim a refund of their unclaimed amounts from their banks. After paying the depositor with interest, banks can lodge a claim for a refund from the Depositor Education and Awareness (DEA) Fund. “Based on the claim request made by the customer/depositor or legal heirs (in the case of deceased depositors), the banks shall repay the customer/depositor along with interest (applicable only in the case of interest-bearing deposit accounts) and then lodge a claim for a refund from the DEA Fund maintained by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for an equivalent amount paid to t ..read more

Madhya Pradesh HC has held that disciplinary action cannot be taken against an employee for uploading posts in a private WhatsApp group. “Any message in the form of text, photo or video sent in a WhatsApp group is confined to the members of the group. It cannot be said that the message had been made public,” observed Justice Vivek Rusia. HC allowed the petition of ID Makrani against his suspension and chargesheet for forwarding an alleged “objectionable political” message in the WhatsApp group of employees in Alirajpur district. The court order said that forwarding any message in a WhatsApp gr ..read more

Bombay HC has held that the term ‘promoter’ covers a co-promoter even if he hasn’t got money from flat buyers and is jointly liable under Real Estate (Regulatory and Development) Act (Rera) to refund the amount, with interest, for delays. It said under the 2016 Act, which came into effect in 2017, ‘promoter’ has “been so widely defined that it virtually includes every person associated with construction of the building”, and it is not necessary that there has to be an agreement between every promoter and a flat buyer. “Even a person who is merely an investor (along with promoter) in the projec ..read more

India’s electronics exports grew at a record 22.24% to cross the $20 billion mark in the first nine months of FY24, propelled by booming smartphone shipments, spearheaded by Apple’s iPhone. According to industry body India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA), mobile phone exports reached $10.5 billion during April to December 2023, comprising 52% of total electronics exports. In FY23, electronics exports stood at $23.6 billion, of which mobile phones comprised $11.1 billion or 43%. Industry data showed iPhones were the single largest contributor to the surge in both electronics and mob ..read more