

SC to hear TMC MP Mahua Moitra's plea seeking transparency in India's financial markets today
Mahua Moitra's petition seeking transparency and investor awareness in India's financial markets. The MP is asking for transparency by mandating public disclosure of Ultimate Beneficial Owners (UBO) details as well as portfolio holdings of Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) and Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs).
The rapid expansion of AIFs and FPIs in India's financial markets has given rise to serious transparency concerns. Unlike Mutual Funds, which are subject to stringent public disclosure norms, AIFs and FPIs operate under opaque structures, raising risks of market manipulation, money laundering, and tax evasion, said Moitra.
«Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), a statutory body, regulates the securities markets in India. As part of its mandate, SEBI oversees the operations of Alternative Investment Funds (AIF) and Foreign Portfolio
Investors (FPI) in India. SEBI (Alternative Investment Funds) Regulations, 2012 and SEBI (Foreign Portfolio Investors) Regulations, 2019 have been enacted for the regulation of AIF's and FPI's in India,» the petition stated.
«However, while Mutual Funds (known as 'Collective Investment Schemes') are subjected to strict public disclosure norms (under SEBI Mutual Fund Regulations 1996 & SEBI Collective Investment Scheme (CIS) Regulation 1999, etc.), there are virtually no public disclosure norms for both AIFs as well as FPIs in India,» according to the MP's petition.
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The petition added «The lack of public disclosure by AIFs, FPTs and their intermediaries is on atleast two critical pieces of information. Firstly, the Ultimate Beneficial Owners (UBOs) & Last Natural Persons (LNP's) of these funds, and secondly, the monthly portfolio disclosures of these funds.
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