No scheme to protect MF investors
Even as several states across the country are scrambling to procure and stock ventilators, there is a good news in a battle against Covid-19.
The Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR)— National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) Bangalore, a constituent of lab of CSIR, has developed a non-invasive BiPAP ventilator in a record time of 36 days to treat Covid-19 patients.
BiPAP non-invasive ventilator is a microcontroller-based precise closed-loop adaptive control system with a built-in biocompatible “3D printed manifold and coupler” with HEPA filter (Highly Efficient Particulate Air filter). These unique features help to alleviate the fear of the virus spread.
The major advantage of this machine is that it is simple to use without any specialised nursing, cost effective, compact and configured with majority of indigenous components. This is ideal for treating Covid-19 patients in wards, make-shift hospitals and dispensaries.
India does not have an explicit compensation scheme to protect mutualfund investors in case of wrongdoing by a fund, says a Morningstar report.
According to Morningstar’s biannual Global Investor Experience report on regulation and taxes, India received an "average" grade and the country matches global best practices in many areas of regulation.
Sebi norms such as lowering total expense ratios, ban on up-front commissions, fund categorisation and tweaks to fund investment norms have reduced conflicts of interest regarding distribution practices, improved fund risk frameworks and aided investors in making informed fund choices.
The strength of fund governance in India is offset, however, by some of the market's weaker policy and operational attributes, like a lack of mandated saving via tier-I retirement accounts for non-state employees and fund structures that charge investors asset-based fees to cover the costs of distribution, the report said.
"Also, there is no explicit investor compensation scheme to protect fund investors in the case of fund company wrongdoing or corporate failure."
Recently Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund closed six debt schemes, causing huge loss to investors as the fund house had invested in highly risky debt instruments.
Overall, regulation of the India's mutual fund industry has been proactive and effective, the report added.
On the global front, the report gave top grades to the Netherlands, Sweden, and the UK, denoting these as the most investor-friendly markets.
New Delhi, May 12: Markets regulator Sebi on Tuesday gave relaxation to listed banks and insurance companies for publishing consolidated financial results for the June quarter in view of the pandemic.
In addition, it has extended the exemption given to listed companies from publication of advertisement in newspapers about their board meetings, financial results and other events till June 30, Sebi said in a circular.
Earlier, the exemption was given till May 15.
In view of the continuing lockdown and the resultant bottlenecks relating to print versions of newspapers... exemptions from publication of advertisements in newspapers are extended for all events scheduled till June 30, 2020, the regulator noted.