The $11bn quant mutual fund has disclosed receiving mail from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) and affirmed it was willing to cooperate fully on the regulatory review.
The multi-asset manager said it term to extend any possible support to Sebi comprising of furnishing data regularly. The front-running news was reported a couple of weeks back when funds body Sebi reportedly conducted a search and seizure operation at the fund’s Mumbai office.
Front-running is an unlawful activity in India, where someone encourages traders to buy or sell equities with details of an enormous deal likely to alter the prices. According to the news published in Moneycontrol’s financial and business portal, search and seizure operations occurred in Mumbai and Hyderabad, and several Quant dealers were interrogated, besides other people close to the case.
In response to the situation, a Quant Mutual Fund spokesperson said, “We are committed to our policy of being fully transparent and ensuring that we operate within the purview of legal requirements. ” The fund is one of the largest asset managers in India and has benefited tremendously from the rising participation of domestic retail investors in the equity market.
The report of Sebi’s investigation may also affect a few other stocks the fund owns, including lender RBL Bank Ltd., drug maker Aarti Pharmalabs Ltd., and metal machinery maker Ador Welding Ltd.
As if to coincide with another mutual fund business recently caught in a regulatory crackdown, the whole Indian mutual fund industry is currently experiencing scrutiny.
