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SEBI has imposed a fine of Rs. 1 lakh on NJ AMC for violating the PMS norms. The market regular has found 13 instances where the PMS company has received investment less than Rs.50 lakh. The minimum ticket size in PMS is Rs.50 lakh.
Further, in 6 other instances, the AMC received incremental investment of less than Rs.50 lakh, said SEBI. These instances happened between April 1, 2020 and December 31, 2021.
Replying to SEBI, NJ AMC said that the revised minimum amount threshold came into effect through gazette notification on January 21, 2020. “In all 13 instances highlighted during the inspection, the agreement was signed by the investors before January 21, 2020 and as such, these investors were contractually eligible for the lower threshold.”
On incremental investment, NJ AMC said, “The processing error was due to the work from home situation and team absences (due to infections) that prevailed at the time which caused considerable disruption.”
Disagreeing with these, the regulator said that all 13 instances are on or after the date of gazette publication i.e. January 21, 2020. Also, there is no satisfactory explanation in the case of 6 top-up transactions.
