Sebi Defers Implementation, Of Mutual Fund Holders Nomination Rules Till Oct 1

Markets regulator Sebi on Friday deferred the implementation of rules pertaining to nomination for mutual fund holders till October 1. The rules, which mandate investors, subscribing to mutual fund units, to submit details of nomination or opting out of nomination, was to come into force August 1. Now, investors, who are subscribing to mutual fund units from October 1 will have the choice of providing nomination or opting out nomination, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said in a circular.

Asset Management Companies (AMCs) will have to provide an option to the unit holder to submit either the nomination form or the declaration form for opting out of nomination in physical or online mode as per the choice of the unit holder. In case of physical option, the forms will carry the wet signature of all the unit holders and if it is online, e-sign facility will be used instead of wet signature of all the unit holders.

Besides, AMCs will validate the forms through two-factor authentication in which one of the factors will be a One-Time Password (OTP) sent to the unit holder concerned at his or her registered email or phone number. The move is aimed at bringing uniformity in practices across all constituents in the securities market. Last year, Sebi gave a similar choice to investors who were opening new trading and demat accounts. Separately, Sebi came out with an operational circular for effective regulation of the corporate bond market and to enable the issuers and other stakeholders to get access to all the applicable rules at one place.

The operational circular deals with continuous disclosure requirements for issuers of listed non-convertible securities, securitised debt instruments and commercial paper. The latest circular is a compilation of the relevant existing circulars, with consequent changes. The stipulations contained in these circulars have been detailed chapter-wise in the operational circular.

Additionally, format for submission of statements indicating the utilisation of issue proceeds of listed non-convertible securities to the stock exchanges, by the listed entities has been included. Further, the regulator issued a format for review of rating obtained by the listed entity with respect to its non-convertible securities from credit rating agencies and formats for submissions to be made by the listed entity to the stock exchanges for interest, dividend and principal.

(PTI)