Page 15 - Banking Finance September 2025

MUTUAL FUND

SEBI rejects Anil Ambani's

plea to settle Yes Bank
bond case
The Securities and Exchange Board of
India (SEBI) has dismissed Anil
Ambani's request to settle charges re-
lated to controversial investments in Ò»©­
Yes Bank's additional tier-1 (AT1)
bonds. The investments, made through
Reliance Mutual Fund (RMF) between
2016 and 2019, totaled Rs 2,150 crore
and were later written off during Yes
Bank's financial crisis in 2020.
SEBI's investigation alleged that RMF's Mutual fund inflows surge as banks lower deposit
bond purchases were linked to loans
extended by Yes Bank to other firms rates
within the Anil Ambani Group. RMF Mutual fund investments witnessed a significant surge in the June quarter,
was sold to Nippon Life Insurance in buoyed by a wave of interest rate cuts by banks and the Reserve Bank of
2019, but the charges predate the India (RBI). With top banks such as SBI, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, IDFC First
sale. SEBI concluded that the fund's Bank, and Kotak Mahindra Bank reducing fixed deposit (FD) rates on ten-
actions caused significant market-wide ures above one year by 15-60 basis points, investors have increasingly turned
disruption and declined Ambani's pro- to mutual funds for better returns.
posal to settle without admitting guilt.
Total net inflows into mutual funds reached Rs 3.55 lakh crore in Q1 FY26,
The rejection could expose him to pen- compared to just Rs 12,658 crore in the previous quarter. Debt funds led
alties exceeding Rs 1,828 crore. The the trend, recording inflows of Rs 2.01 lakh crore, reversing a sharp out-
case adds to regulatory scrutiny of the flow of Rs 80,536 crore in the March quarter.
Anil Ambani group's financial dealings Analysts attribute the rise to investor appetite for higher yields amid a soft-
during that period.
ening interest rate regime. The trend is expected to strengthen further if
NSE pays Rs 40.35 crore to rate cuts continue.

settle SEBI probe on data
vendor without a legally binding agree- ED arrests Axis Mutual
handling lapses ment, raising the risk of unauthorised
The National Stock Exchange (NSE) has access. Additionally, NSE was found to Fund's ex-fund manager in
paid Rs 40.35 crore to settle charges have shared unpublished price-sensi- Rs 200 crore front-running
of multiple regulatory violations tive corporate announcements with case
flagged by SEBI, including lapses in clients of its subsidiary, NSE Data and
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has
data management, governance, and Analytics Ltd (NDAL), prior to their arrested Viresh Joshi, former chief
compliance. The case followed an in- public disclosure-potentially breaching trader and fund manager at Axis Mutual
spection by SEBI between February insider trading norms. Fund, for alleged involvement in a Rs 200
2021 and March 2022.
These disclosures, SEBI noted, were crore front-running scam. Front-running
NSE neither admitted nor denied the made without appropriate agreements is an illegal market practice where trad-
findings while settling the case. SEBI in place. While NSE's IPO plans con- ers exploit advance knowledge of large
found that the exchange outsourced tinue, this settlement clears a regula- client orders to make profits.
the storage of media tapes containing tory hurdle tied to its operational prac- Joshi was taken into custody on August
sensitive trade data to a third-party tices. 2 and remanded until August 8 by a

14 | 2025 | SEPTEMBER | BANKING FINANCE