Page 14 - Banking Finance March 2025

MUTUAL FUND

India (SEBI) has come out with pro- any other related person will be con- up to 10 persons as nominees in the
posed guidelines on treatment of un- tacted. demat account or mutual fund folio.
claimed funds and securities lying with If the broker is a declared defaulter, all However, the investor will need to
brokers. unclaimed funds will be down declare the nominee. It cannot be
As per current norms, brokers are re- streamed and transferred directly to done by the Power of Attorney (PoA)
quired to settle the credit balance of the dedicated bank account of the holder(s) of the investor. The nominees
clients lying with them on the first Fri- dedicated stock exchange. can either continue as joint holders
with other nominees or open separate
day and/or Saturday of every month or Funds remaining unclaimed for a year
quarter. will be similarly down streamed and single accounts/folios for their respec-
If a member is unable to settle the cli- transferred. tive portions.
ent accounts due to non-availability of
bank accounts or non-traceability of Mutual fund investors can SBI Mutual Fund unveils a
clients, brokers have to make all ef- now name up to 10 nomi- Rs 250 SIP
forts to trace the clients to settle their SBI Mutual Fund, along with parent
funds and maintain an audit trail. nees State Bank of India, has launched
Market regulator Securities and Ex-
According to the new rules, such client JanNivesh SIP, a scheme aimed at
accounts will be put under 'enquiry change Board of India (Sebi) has an- making mutual funds more accessible.
nounced significant changes to the
status' and brokers will contact the cli- JanNivesh SIP, a flexible SIP option that
nomination rules for mutual funds and
ents immediately. starts with Rs. 250 has daily, weekly
demat accounts aimed at reducing
Client funds can be parked in liquid unclaimed assets and ensuring better and monthly investment plans. It is
mutual funds or overnight schemes and management of investments, particu- designed to enable first-time investors
up-streamed to clearing corporations larly in cases of illness or the death of and small savers from rural, semi-ur-
within 30 days of the funds becoming an investor. ban, and urban regions to invest in
unclaimed. mutual fund schemes. The facility will
Sebi has revises mutual fund nomina- be initially allowed in SBI Balanced
For untraceable clients, the introducer tion rules, effective March 1, 2025. Advantage Fund, which invests in a mix
of the client, nominee, employer or Sebi said that an investor can declare
of equity and debt based on the fund
managers' view.
NSE registered investor base crosses 11 crore The facility will be available digitally on

The unique registered investor base on the National Stock Exchange of In- the SBI Yono platform and other
dia crossed the 11-crore mark on January 20, 2025. The total number of fintech platforms like Paytm, Groww
client codes (accounts) registered with the exchange stood above 21 crore, and Zerodha. SBI has announced it
which includes all client registrations done to date, with clients being able would waive transaction charges for
to register with more than one trading member. bank transfers related to micro-SIPs.

Investor registrations at the NSE have experienced remarkable accelera-
tion in recent times, with a 3.6 times jump in the last five years. It took 14 Kotak Mutual Fund
years from the NSE's commencement of operations in 1994 to reach 1 crore
investors. The pace then quickened, with the next 1 crore registrations taking launches Nifty Commodi-
about seven years, followed by another 3.5 years for the next crore, and ties Index Fund
the subsequent milestone of adding the fourth crore took just over a year, Kotak Mutual Fund has launched the
according to a release by the exchange.
Kotak Nifty Commodities Index Fund,
The rate of growth has significantly quickened since then, with each addi- an open-ended scheme replicating/
tional 1 crore investors being added in roughly 6-7 months, and the last 1 tracking the Nifty Commodities Index.
crore investors being added in just over five months. This reflects a shift in
The New Fund Offer (NFO) of the
investor enthusiasm and participation in the stock market through direct scheme is open for public subscription
means, the release noted.
and will close on March 3. The scheme

BANKING FINANCE | MARCH | 2025 | 13