Market watchdog SEBI had its ‘first level’ discussion with fund houses to tap foreign investors in Indian equity mutual funds
Mumbai: In his budget speech, the finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee gave his go ahead to the mutual fund houses to accept foreign investors in equity schemes. To tap this new opportunity, SEBI had its ‘first level’ discussion with fund houses.
On 9 March 2011, senior officials from SEBI including K.N. Vaidyanathan met top honchos from both foreign sponsored and domestic fund houses to discuss the ways to attract foreign investors in Indian equity mutual funds. The broad discussion was on how those foreign institutional clients who are not keen to register with SEBI as FIIs, be allowed to invest in equity schemes, says an official who attended the meeting.
Some fund officials are of the view that it will take a long time before foreign investors will be allowed to enter Indian mutual funds as regulatory and tax related issues have to be ironed out first.
Currently, only FIIs and sub-accounts registered with SEBI and NRIs are permitted to invest in Indian mutual funds.
