Sebi rejigs advisory committee on mutual funds

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has revamped its committee that advises the capital markets regulator on matters related to regulation and development of mutual fund industry.

The 20-member advisory committee on mutual funds is headed Usha Thorat, former deputy governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI), a latest Sebi update showed.

Earlier in 2013, the panel had 15 members and was headed by Janki Ballabh, former Chairman of SBI.

The members of the committee include officials of various fund houses like Franklin Templeton Asset Management (India) Pvt Ltd President Sanjay Sapre, Kotak Mahindra AMC MD Nilesh Shah and Canara Robeco AMC CEO Rajnish Narula, SBI Mutual Fund Independent Trustee Sunil Gulati and Motilal Oswal Mutual Fund Independent Trustee Director Brij Gopal Daga.

Besides, Dhirendra Kumar CEO of Value Research India, Kailash Kulkarni CEO of L&T Investment Management, K N Vaidyanathan Executive Vice President at M&M, Ashish Chauhan, MD and CEO at BSE, Ananth Narayan Associate Professor of Finance at SPJIMR and NS Venkatesh CEO of Association of Mutual Funds in India are also part of the panel.

Moreover, the committee comprises representatives from the government, media and a Sebi official.

The advisory committee is mandated to advise Sebi on issues related to regulation and development of mutual fund industry.

It can advise the regulator on disclosure requirements and measures required for a change in the legal framework to introduce simplification and transparency in mutual fund regulations.