Best printers for Home

Best Mixer Grinder

Best wired Earphones

Best 43 Inch TV in India

Best Wi Fi Routers

Best Home Theatre in India

Smart Watch under 5000

Best Laptops for Education

Best Laptop for Students

To bring transparency in expenses and curb mis-selling, markets regulator SEBI has asked alternative investment funds (<keyword id="1006423" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="aifs" source="Orion">AIFs</keyword>) to provide an option of "direct plan" for investors and introduced a trail model for distribution commission. In addition, the regulator came out with guidelines with respect to excluding an investor from an investment in <keyword id="161906" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="aif" source="Orion">AIF</keyword>. This came after the regulator observed inconsistency and lack of adequate disclosure in Private <keyword id="17098646" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="placement-memorandum" source="Orion">Placement Memorandum</keyword> (PPM) with respect to certain industry practices. The new rules are aimed at providing flexibility to investors for investing in AIFs, bringing transparency in expenses and curbing mis-selling, the <keyword id="6355630" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="securities-and-exchange-board-of-india" source="Orion">Securities and Exchange Board of India</keyword> (SEBI) said in two separate circulars. The framework pertaining to the direct plan will come into force from May 1, while those related to excluding an investor from an AIF investment will become effective immediately. Directing AIFs, SEBI said,"schemes of AIFs shall have an option of 'Direct Plan' for investors" and through such direct plans, investors will have the opportunity to participate in an AIF without having to pay any distribution fee or placement fee. AIFs will have to ensure that investors who approach the AIF through a registered intermediary, which is separately charging the investor any fee such as an advisory fee or portfolio management fee, are on-boarded through a direct plan only. Introducing a trail model for distribution commission, SEBI said that category III AIFs would charge distribution fee from investors only on an equal trail basis. It means no upfront distribution fee would be charged by such AIFs directly or indirectly from their investors. Further, any distribution charge paid would be only from the management fee received by the managers of such category III AIFs. For other two categories, AIFs may pay up to one-third of the total distribution fee to the distributors on upfront basis, and the remaining distribution fee would be paid to the distributors on equal trail basis over the tenure of the fund. Also, SEBI asked AIFs to disclose distribution fees to the investors at the time of on-boarding. The capital markets regulator has already barred upfront commissions for portfolio management services and mutual funds. Upfront commission is a one-time payment made by a fund to a distributor on selling a scheme to an investor. Trail commission, on the other hand, is a recurring fee paid to a distributor until the investment is withdrawn. With regard to excusing or excluding an investor, SEBI said that an AIF may excuse its investor from participating in a particular investment in certain circumstances. Those circumstances include if an investor, based on the opinion of a legal professional, confirms that its participation in the investment opportunity would be in violation of rule; or if the investor, as part of an agreement signed with the AIF, had disclosed to the manager that its participation in such investment opportunity would be in contravention to the internal policy of the investor. Further, the manager will have to ensure that terms of such agreement with the investor include reporting of any change in the disclosed internal policy, to the AIF, within 15 days of such change. Moreover, an AIF may exclude an investor from participating in a particular investment opportunity, if the manager of the AIF is satisfied that the participation of such investor in the investment opportunity would lead to the scheme of the AIF being in violation of rule or would result in material adverse effect on the scheme of the AIF. If the investor of an AIF is also an AIF or any other investment vehicle, such investor may be partially excluded from participation in an investment opportunity, to the extent of the contribution of the investment vehicle's underlying investors who are to be excused from such investment opportunity. The manager will have to record the rationale for such exclusions along with the supporting documents. In February 2020, the regulator introduced a template for PPM for AIFs, in order to ascertain that a certain minimum level of information in a simple and comparable format is disclosed to investors. The PPM template provides for disclosure with respect to direct plan for investors, and constituents of fees that may be charged by the AIF, including distribution fee. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/space/news/a-giant-asteroid-the-size-of-qutub-minar-to-pass-dangerously-close-to-earth-at-30-times-the-speed-of-sound/articleshow/99406843.cms">Just Look Up: Giant asteroid the size of Qutub Minar to pass dangerously close to Earth</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/news/nse-indices-launches-indias-first-ever-reits-and-invits-index/articleshow/99407069.cms">NSE Indices launches India's first-ever REITs and InvITs index</a>

SEBI asks AIFs to provide "direct plan" option to investors; introduces trail model for distribution commission

New Delhi, Capital markets regulator Sebi on Monday proposed to provide flexibility to Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs), <keyword id="20198292" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="venture-capital-funds" source="keywords">Venture Capital Funds</keyword> (VCFs) and their investors to deal with unliquidated investments of their schemes beyond expiry of tenure. In its consultation paper, the regulator suggested that instead of launching a new liquidation scheme by AIFs, the same scheme itself can be allowed to continue with the unliquidated investments beyond their tenure for a certain period or dissolution period for fully liquidating their unliquidated investments. Additionally, the regulator proposed extending flexibility of the dissolution process to venture capital funds through migration to the <keyword id="19903848" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="aif" source="keywords">AIF</keyword> regime. At present, the option to launch liquidation scheme is available only to those schemes of AIFs which are under 'Liquidation Period'-- the period of one year following the expiry of tenure of the scheme for fully liquidating the scheme and not available to VCFs, irrespective of whether their tenure has expired or not. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has sought public comments till February 2 on the proposal. The proposal came after Sebi received representations from participants in the AIF industry highlighting certain tax related issues. They also highlighted that setting up a liquidation scheme and winding up the original AIF scheme is a process involving time, cost, and efforts, which directly or indirectly, would ultimately be paid by investors. In the consultation paper, the regulator suggested that during the liquidation period of an AIF scheme, if the AIF decides to opt for dissolution period, then AIF should obtain positive consent of 75 per cent of investors by value of their investment in the scheme. After obtaining the consent, the AIF should arrange bids for a minimum of 25 per cent of the value of the unliquidated investments. The bids should be arranged for units representing consolidated value of all unliquidated investments of the scheme's investment portfolio. Sebi suggested that investor approval and bid should be obtained by the AIF before the expiry of the Liquidation Period of the scheme. "Liquidation schemes that have already been launched by AIFs shall be grand-fathered," Sebi said. The regulator also suggested one-time flexibility to AIF schemes, whose Liquidation Period has expired or would be expiring within one month from the date of notification in this regard, to deal with unliquidated investment. Also, it has recommended extending flexibility of the dissolution process to venture capital funds through migration to the AIF regime. It further suggested that such migration should be smooth and cost effective. Under the <keyword id="20198293" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="vcf-regulations" source="keywords">VCF Regulations</keyword>, VCFs are required to liquidate their investments within three months from the expiry of their tenure, whereas AIF Regulations provide AIFs a Liquidation Period of 12 months for the said purpose. There is no provision in <keyword id="20198294" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="vcf" source="keywords">VCF</keyword> Regulations for extension of tenure of VCF scheme. Therefore, any VCF operating beyond their tenure specified in the Private <keyword id="20198291" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="placement-memorandum" source="keywords">Placement Memorandum</keyword> (PPM) is in violation of the VCF rules. Accordingly, Sebi suggested a new framework to facilitate VCFs to migrate to AIF Regulations, so that the proposed flexibility of Liquidation Period and the flexibility of dealing with unliquidated investments by opting for dissolution period / process, can be availed by VCFs. Under the proposed regulatory framework for migration of VCFs to AIF Regulations, a sub-category should be created under Category I - VCFs called Migrated VCFs. Such VCFs can migrate themselves within 6 months of the date of Sebi's notification in this regard. Sebi suggested that certain flexibilities under VCF rules should continue to be availed by migrated VCFs and accordingly the migrated VCFs should be exempted from the requirements of minimum investment requirement in AIF, minimum corpus size, maximum number of investors in a scheme, manner of calculation of tenure and audit of terms of PPM. Moreover, certain benefits of AIF Regulations that are not available under VCF rule should be extended to migrated VCFs.

Sebi mulls flexibility for AIF, VCFs to deal with unliquidated investments beyond tenure expiry

Markets regulator <keyword id="35210" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="sebi" source="Orion">Sebi</keyword> on Wednesday proposed that <keyword id="161906" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="aif" source="Orion">AIF</keyword> (alternative investment fund) investors should not be given any differential treatment, which affects the economic rights of other investors. In addition, the regulator is looking to provide clarity on the pro-rata rights of investors in an AIF scheme. AIF is a privately pooled investment vehicle, which collects funds from investors, for investing under a defined investment policy for the benefit of its investors. In its consultation paper, Sebi suggested that no differential rights should be provided to investors of the AIF/scheme, which would affect the economic rights of other investors. However, this should not apply in case of differential rights provided on terms with respect to the hurdle rate of return, performance-linked fee/additional return and management fee. With respect to the pro-rata rights of investors, the regulator recommended that the rights of each investor should be maintained at pro-rata to their commitment to the scheme, in each investment of the scheme, while making an investment. Besides, the rights of each investor should be maintained at pro-rata to the investment made in the investee company, while distributing the proceeds of the investment. Further, the manager can charge a performance-linked fee as per the terms of the contribution agreement with each investor. "While manager/sponsor may continue to have differential distribution to bear loss more than their pro-rata holding, the same is subject to the condition that the amount invested by the AIF in the investee company shall not be utilised directly or indirectly to repay any pending obligations to the manager/sponsor or their associates," the regulator said. Existing schemes of AIFs, which have adopted the priority distribution (PD) model, can continue with the existing investments, but should not accept any fresh commitment or make the investment in a new investee company, it added. Sebi noted that AIFs with a priority distribution model may be misused to mask true asset quality, which may lead to the ever-greening of bad/doubtful assets and therefore, it might not be prudent to permit AIFs to adopt such a model. "It is necessary to explicitly prohibit adopting of differential distribution model by AIFs and any such practice providing differential rights to investors which affect the pooling requirement of the investment vehicle," it said. In November 2022, the regulator barred AIF schemes with a priority distribution model from making investments in a new investee company as the model provides for significant scope for mis-selling to investors. Sebi had said it stopped such investment till it takes a view on the same. The <keyword id="6355630" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="securities-and-exchange-board-of-india" source="Orion">Securities and Exchange Board of India</keyword> (Sebi) had sought comments from the public till July 4 on the proposal. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/news/rbi-governor-pausing-interest-rate-hike-not-in-my-hands-depends-on-the-on-ground-situation/articleshow/100466100.cms">Pausing interest rate hike not in my hands, depends on the on-ground situation: RBI governor</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/personal-finance/news/investments-like-elss-ppf-and-tax-saving-fixed-deposits-are-likely-to-lose-their-sheen-in-new-tax-regime/articleshow/100464933.cms">5 tax-saving investments that will lose their charm under the new tax regime</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/samsung-galaxy-a14-vs-redmi-note-12-which-phone-should-you-buy-under-15000/slidelist/100472876.cms">Samsung Galaxy A14 vs Redmi Note 12 – which phone should you buy under ₹15,000?</a>

Sebi mulls prohibiting differential rights to AIF investors

New Delhi, Dec 5 () With an aim to create a conducive environment for a sound Alternative Investment Fund (AIF), Sebi has proposed to introduce minimum benchmarks for disclosure of performance history of such asset class and standardisation of draft document issued to investors by them.
 AIFs are privately-pooled investment funds which collect funds from investors, whether Indian or foreign, for investing in accordance with a defined investment policy for the benefit of their investors. There are three different categories of AIFs.
 The markets regulator noted that investments by registered AIFs have grown 75 per cent year-on-year in the last two years. Total investments made by AIFs have increased from over Rs 35,000 crore in March 2017 to Rs 61,400 crore in March 2018 to Rs 1.1 lakh crore in March 2019.
 However, at present, there is no disclosure by AIFs indicating returns on their investments and in turn their performance available in public domain, Sebi said while issuing the draft papers.
 Also, there is no standard format for draft document or private placement memorandum (PPM) currently, which provides the necessary information that a prospective investor would need to take an informed decision to invest in a particular AIF.
 Such asset class submits draft PPMs to Sebi before launch of their schemes for incorporation of comments received from the regulator in such draft documents. The regulator has observed that there is significant variation in the manner in which various clauses, explanations and illustrations are incorporated in the PPMs.
 Accordingly, Sebi has proposed to introduce these measures which are aimed at creating a conducive environment for a sound AIF.
 The regulator has sought public comments on these proposals till December 25 and final regulation will be put in place after taking into account suggestions of all stakeholders.
 With regard to introduction of minimum benchmarks for disclosure of performance history of AIFs, the regulator has proposed that AIFs which are registered with Sebi for at least 3 years, report their audited scheme-wise performance data to single or multiple benchmarking agencies (to be identified later), for benchmarking the individual fund's performance with the comparable industry performance.
 In all and any documents and media for marketing or promoting the AIF, if any data on the performance of such asset class is mentioned, the benchmark report of the AIF provided by the benchmarking agency to also be provided. Besides, a copy of this report should be provided to all investors.
 "Any investment manager of an existing unregistered fund, including foreign funds, shall provide the data on their investments in Indian companies, to benchmarking agencies, when they seek registration as AIF," Sebi said in the proposal.
 "If any performance data based on previous experience of the investment manager is referred in the fund documents or marketing material furnished to Sebi, the same shall be accompanied by the benchmark report received by the applicant," it added.
 Sebi said any association of registered AIFs which in terms of membership represent at least 50 per cent of such registered asset class, may propose one or more benchmarking agencies, who shall enter into agreement with AIFs for carrying out benchmarking process.
 All the AIFs that have been registered for more than 3 years, will provide the necessary information to all the agencies.
 Considering the importance of PPM to investors, to ensure that minimum standard of information be available in such draft papers and to facilitate the processing of AIF applications in a time bound manner, Sebi has proposed for standardisation of PPM and issued draft templates for PPM prepared for all the three categories of AIFs .
 The draft templates focuses on clarifying the riskiness of investment in AIFs, sequence of presentation of information as well as the list of minimum information to be provided under each heading in the PPM.
 On an annual basis, Sebi has proposed an audit of the compliance of the AIF with the terms of the PPM, with special emphasis on impact of side letters on other investors, shall be carried out by an auditor. The findings of the audit would be communicated to the trustee, board of the investment manager and Sebi.
 In case of any adverse findings, the corrective steps taken would also be submitted.
 Initially, the audit may be carried out by an internal or external auditor. Going ahead, Sebi may notify that the audit would be carried out only by an external auditor.
 Also, as per the proposal, summary of audit findings with respect to compliance with terms of PPM would be shared with all investors. SP ANU

Sebi proposes performance benchmarking, standardisation of draft documents by AIFs

New Delhi, Feb 6 () Markets watchdog Sebi on Thursday came out with guidelines for compulsory performance benchmarking for Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) as part of efforts to streamline disclosure standards. A template for Private Placement Memorandum (PPM) in the case of these funds, which have been classified into three categories, has also been issued. The PPM would have two parts -- a section for minimum disclosures and a supplementary section to provide any additional information. In a circular, the regulator said it has been decided to introduce the template for PPM, subject to certain exemptions, as well as put in place mandatory performance benchmarking for AIFs. Besides, there are provisions for additional customised performance reporting requirements. Sebi has also given operational guidelines for mandatory performance benchmarking of AIFs, including venture capital funds and the AIF industry. The performance benchmarking guidelines "shall not apply to Angel Funds registered under sub-category of Venture Capital Fund under Category I-AIF," the circular said. AIFs would have to carry out an annual audit of compliance with PPM terms. It can be done by either an internal or external auditor or a legal professional. Sections in the PPM pertaining to risk factors, legal, regulatory and tax considerations, among others, would be optional when it comes to audit. "Performance Benchmarking shall be done on a half-yearly basis based on the data as on September 30 and March 31 of each year," the regulator said. The findings of the audit, along with corrective steps, if any, should be communicated to the trustee of board or designated partners of the AIF, board of the manager and Sebi. These requirements would be effective from March 1. Angel funds as well as AIFs or schemes in which each investor commits a minimum capital contribution of Rs 70 crore or USD 10 million would be exempted from complying with the requirement of PPM as well as audit. Any association of AIFs that represents at least 51 per cent of the number of such funds, have to notify one or more benchmarking agencies, with whom each AIF needs to enter into an agreement for carrying out the benchmarking process. AIFs, for all their schemes which have completed at least one year from the date of "first close", should report all the necessary information, including scheme-wise valuation and cash flow data, to the benchmarking agencies in a timely manner. "If an applicant claims a track-record on the basis of India performance of funds incorporated overseas, it shall also provide the data of the investments of the said funds in Indian companies to the benchmarking agencies, when they seek registration as an AIF," Sebi said. In any marketing or promotional material as well as PPM, where past performance of the AIF is mentioned, the performance versus benchmark report provided by the benchmarking agencies should be provided, as per the circular. "As a first step, association will appoint benchmarking agencies and thereafter will set timeline for reporting of requisite data to benchmarking agencies by all the registered AIFs. "In this regard, association and benchmarking agencies will ensure that the first industry benchmark and AIF level performance versus benchmark reports are available latest by July 1, 2020, for the performance up to September 30, 2019," Sebi said. On a monthly basis, an association has to submit a progress report in this regard to Sebi till the creation of the first industry benchmark. In December, the regulator proposed introduction of minimum benchmarks for disclosure of performance history of AIFs and standardisation of draft document issued to investors by them. SRS RAM

Sebi issues performance benchmarking guidelines for AIFs

New Delhi, Feb 13 () Investments by alternative investment funds (AIFs) rose to over Rs 1.4 lakh crore in December quarter 2019, registering an increase of 53 per cent over the year-ago period.The investment made by AIFs was pegged at Rs 1,42,115.104 crore in the latest quarter, while in the year-ago period, the figure stood at Rs 92,825 crore, the latest data available with Sebi showed.At the end of September 2019 quarter, the investment stood at Rs 1.25 lakh crore.AIFs are funds established or incorporated in India for the purpose of pooling in capital from Indian and foreign investors for investing as per a pre-decided policy. Under the Sebi guidelines, AIFs can operate broadly in three categories.The category I AIFs pumped in Rs 13,904 crore, category II Rs 92,433 crore and category III Rs 35,777 crore during the period under review.The category-I AIFs are those funds that get incentives from the government and regulators and include social venture, infrastructure and venture capital funds.The government in November 2019 approved a Rs 25,000 crore fund to help complete over 1,600 stalled housing projects. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said the AIF will comprise Rs 10,000 crore coming from the government and the remaining will be provided by state insurer LIC and the country's largest lender SBI. The category-III AIFs are those trading with a view to making short-term returns and include hedge funds. The category-II AIFs can invest anywhere in any combination, but are prohibited from raising debt, except for meeting their day-to-day operational requirements. These AIFs include private equity and debt funds or fund of funds. In order to streamline disclosure standards, markets watchdog Sebi earlier this month came out with guidelines for compulsory performance benchmarking for AIFs. According to Harsh Agarwal, head of alternative strategies, Tata Asset Management, Sebi's disclosure mechanism will have "meaningful benefit for the industry and more so for the investors considering investing in AIFs."In absence of a benchmark, it is often difficult to understand the nature of the strategy and what it intends to do. The mechanism will allow the investors to clearly see what additional value does the fund bring in relation to conventional investment products, he added. SRS ANUANU

AIF investment rises to Rs 1.4 lakh cr in Dec quarter

Nearly 88 per cent of the investments made by Alternative Investment Funds (<keyword id="1006423" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="aifs" source="Orion">AIFs</keyword>) under the Startups <keyword id="3483659" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="ffs" source="Orion">FFS</keyword> (Fund for Funds) Scheme have gone to five states. <keyword id="6354780" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="karnataka" source="Orion">Karnataka</keyword> has topped the list of states with an investment of Rs 4,687 crore out of the total investment of Rs 14,077 crore spread across the country. The Fund of Funds for Startups (FFS) Scheme was approved and established in 2016 with a corpus of Rs 10,000 crore, with contribution spread over the 14th and 15th Finance Commission cycle based on progress of implementation, to provide a much-needed boost to the Indian startup ecosystem and enable access to domestic capital. As on December 31, 2022, under FFS, Rs 7,980 crore has been committed to 99 AIFs and Rs 3,400 crore has been disbursed to 72 AIFs which have in turn made investments of Rs 14,077 crore in 791 startups. The government data said that while Karnataka got an investment of Rs 4687 crore for 240 startups under the scheme, Maharashtra's 176 startups received an investment of Rs 3,426 crore and Delhi's 138 startups got Rs 2,254 crore. Similarly, in Haryana 60 startups received an investment of Rs 1,148 crore and in <keyword id="20154" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="tamil-nadu" source="Orion">Tamil Nadu</keyword>, 29 startups got an investment of Rs 826 crore. Under FFS, the Scheme does not directly invest in startups, instead it provides capital to SEBI-registered Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs), known as daughter funds, who in turn invest money in growing Indian startups through equity and equity-linked instruments. The <keyword id="104385" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="small-industries-development-bank-of-india" source="Orion">Small Industries Development Bank of India</keyword> (SIDBI) has been given the mandate of operating this Fund through selection of suitable daughter funds and overseeing the disbursal of committed capital. AIFs supported under FFS are required to invest at least two times of the amount committed under FFS in startups. The Government with an intent to build a strong ecosystem for nurturing innovation, startups and encouraging private investments in the startup ecosystem of the country launched Startup India initiative on January 16, 2016. The flagship Schemes including Fund of Funds for Startups (FFS), <keyword id="9949511" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="startup-india-seed-fund-scheme" source="Orion">Startup India Seed Fund Scheme</keyword> (SISFS) and Credit Guarantee Scheme for Startups (CGSS) support startups at various stages of their business cycle to enable startups to graduate to a level where they are able to raise investments from angel investors or venture capitalists or seek loans from commercial banks or financial institutions. Officials said that over 50 regulatory reforms have been undertaken by the Government since 2016 to enhance ease of doing business, ease of raising capital and reduce compliance burden for the startup ecosystem. Besides, to enable ease of procurement, Central Ministries and Departments have been directed to relax conditions of prior turnover and prior experience in public procurement for all DPIIT recognised startups subject to meeting quality and technical specifications. Further, Government e-Marketplace (GeM) Startup Runway has been developed which is a dedicated corner for startups to sell products and services directly to the Government. The Government also implements flagship annual exercises and programs including States' Startup Ranking, National Startup Awards and Innovation Week which play an important role in holistic development of the startup ecosystem. The Government also facilitates participation and engagement of the Indian startup ecosystem at international platforms. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/thelife/news/chatgpt-wrote-6-love-letters-as-the-bard-chandler-bing-an-srk-fan-more-heres-what-it-missed/articleshow/97823242.cms">ChatGPT wrote 6 love letters as the Bard, Chandler Bing, an SRK fan &amp; more – here’s what it missed</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/news/direct-tax-collections-fy-2022-23-records-growth-at-15-67-lakh-cr/articleshow/97821630.cms">Direct Tax Collections (FY 2022-23) records growth at ₹15.67 lakh cr</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/thelife/news/poet-amjad-islam-amjad-passes-away-at-78-adnan-sami-pays-condolences/articleshow/97815855.cms">Poet Amjad Islam Amjad who wrote Man Ki Lagan, passes away at 78</a>

88% of ₹14,000 cr AIF funding goes to startups in 5 states - Karnataka tops the list

New Delhi, Mar 30 () In order to reduce the compliance burden on venture capital funds (VCF) and alternative investment funds (AIF), markets regulator Sebi on Monday extended due date for regulatory filings by two months. The move comes in the wake of recent market events due to COVID-19 pandemic, Sebi said in a circular. Accordingly, Sebi extended the due date for regulatory filings for AIFs and VCFs for the periods ending March 31, 2020 and April 30, 2020 by two months, over and above the timelines prescribed under Sebi (Alternative Investment Funds) Regulations, 2012, the regulator said. AIFs are privately-pooled investment funds which collect funds from investors, whether Indian or foreign, for investing in accordance with a defined investment policy for the benefit of their investors. There are three different categories of AIFs. SRS RVK

COVID-19 outbreak: Sebi extends regulatory filing deadlines for AIFs, VCFs

With D-Day approaching fast, the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=startup+industry">startup industry</a> is eagerly speculating how well the Narendra-Modi led government will adopt and accommodate start-up friendly policies and initiatives in the upcoming Budget. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Mr-Arun-Jaitley-heres-what-the-startup-industry-is-expecting-from-Budget-2016/articleshow/50685322.cms">A lot of expectations are riding on Arun Jaitley’s back</a>. As he inches closer to February 29, here are crucial recommendations of the Indian Angel Network, country's oldest and largest angel investor group, to the “pro-business” government before the Finance Minister finally unveils their startup plan. 
 
“We hope this budget would end one anomaly - treating unfavourably investments by AIFs and Angel Groups in unlisted companies. Currently investors of such companies pay a much higher tax on capital gains while taking a far higher risk as compared to publicly traded shares. We do expect that capital gains tax for AIF funds and angel group investors will be aligned to the current tax regime for investments made in listed shares,” says <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/No-funds-for-your-start-up-Here-are-5-things-you-need-to-attract-angel-investors/articleshow/49323077.cms">Mrs Padmaja Ruparel, President, Indian Angel Network</a>. 
 
Meanwhile, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Why-2015-was-the-year-of-Indian-Startups-tell-us-imminent-investors/articleshow/50355873.cms">Mr Saurabh Srivastava</a>, who is the past chairman of <keyword id="6372077" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Nasscom">NASSCOM</keyword>, and is currently on the executive committee of <keyword id="6355001" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="FICCI">FICCI</keyword> and the co-founder of Indian Angel Network, shared with Business Insider detailed recommendations for Finance Minister <keyword id="42575" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Arun-Jaitley">Arun Jaitley</keyword> ahead of the D-Day. 
 He says: “The Startup India announcement was a great start. We are hoping that the budget would introduce the necessary measures to take it forward like <keyword id="6354751" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Income-Tax">Income Tax</keyword> Exemption for Start ups, Process of defining and identifying start ups, Establishment of the Credit Guarantee Fund, Waiver of compliances/ Self Certification and Creation of the Rs 10,000 Cr provision for Funds of Funds activity.” 
 
He also said: “We also hope that the government would end one anomaly and that is of treating unfavourably investments by AIFs and Angel Groups in unlisted companies.” 
 
“Today, capital gains tax on investments in publicly listed companies are treated as long term capital gains and taxed at 0% if held for over one year and as short term if held for less than a year and taxed at 15%( plus STT in both cases). But investments in unlisted companies or start ups is taxed at 33% for short term and at 20% for long term capital gains, with the holding period for long term capital gains as 3 years,” explains Mr Srivastava. 
 
“These investments in unlisted companies take more risks, are illiquid and create new ventures. They should be treated more favourably or at least on par with trading shares on the stock exchange. 
This should be allowed at least for investments made by SEBI registered, widely held AIF Category 1 and Angel Funds. The AIFs can collect STT like stock exchanges on such transactions,” he adds. 
 Highlighting the advantages of this, Mr Srivastava says, “this will end the discrimination against domestic <keyword id="6357097" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="venture-capital">venture capital</keyword> funds ( AIFs) as foreign funds anyway pay no capital gains tax by investing from Mauritius and other treaty friendly countries. This will also nudge foreign funds to register with SEBI.”

Union Budget 2016: Angel investors make key recommendations to the Modi govt, here's what they are

<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image on-image">AP</div></div><keyword id="54513" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Vatican">VATICAN</keyword> CITY (Reuters) - The Vatican bank is likely to close all accounts held by foreign embassies, following concerns about large cash deposits and withdrawals by the missions of Iran, Iraq and Indonesia, according to people with knowledge of the situation.
The Vatican's financial watchdog, which examined the transactions in 2011, believed the embassies' justifications for the transactions were too vague or disproportionate to the amounts - up to 500,000 euros at a time - these people said. In one case, a large cash withdrawal was said to be for "refurbishment", one person added.
Now the bank and the watchdog want to reduce the possibility that the Institute for Religious Works (IOR), as the bank is called, could be an unwitting vehicle for money laundering and other illicit finances.
Four people with knowledge of the matter said the closure of the accounts was likely to be a key recommendation of a broad review that Pope Francis has ordered of the bank, whose scandal-tainted history has long been an embarrassment for the Holy See.
The review is set to be completed by the end of the year.
It is the thorniest part of nascent efforts by the world's smallest state to open itself up to more outside scrutiny. The process ostensibly began under the former Pope Benedict, but was thwarted by conflicts among Vatican officials and an Italian money-laundering investigation.
The IOR is a private bank - currently with about 7.1 billion euros in assets under management - whose stated goal is to hold and manage funds for religious orders of priests and nuns, Catholic charities, Vatican employees, and other Catholic institutions. But the number of account holders has swelled to 19,000 over the years and diversified beyond the original categories with the right to hold accounts.
Fewer than two dozen of the 180 countries accredited to the Vatican have accounts at the IOR; many Western states such as the United States and Britain do not.
Reuters has learned that the Financial Information Authority (AIF), the Holy See's financial watchdog, wrote to the IOR in the second half of 2011 expressing its concern over several cash withdrawals and deposits by the embassies of Iran, Iraq and Indonesia, according to the people with knowledge of the situation.
The transactions - which were registered at the Vatican border in line with Vatican and European Union requirements that amounts of more than 10,000 euros in cash or equivalent be declared at customs - caught the eye of the AIF because of their origin, frequency and amounts. Iran, Iraq and Indonesia are classified by international institutions and governance bodies as countries at high risk of financial crimes. The Holy See's regulators also thought the justifications for the withdrawals, including one that simply said "personnel", were vague, these people said. It was not clear where the money for the cash deposits came from.
The Iranian and Iraqi embassies to the Vatican said they had no comment on the cash movements or the concerns raised by regulators.
The Indonesian ambassador to the Vatican, Bahar Budiarman, said that his embassy takes out up to 10,000 euros at a time from its IOR account and that the money is destined for personal use and petty cash. For bigger amounts, wire transfers are used, said Budiarman, who has been ambassador since early 2012.
An IOR spokesman stated in emails that the bank does not comment on matters concerning the AIF and that the IOR had no comment on the possible closure of embassy accounts.
The AIF said that "it does not give details about cases it investigates and does not comment on the....review of the bank".
The review of the IOR has gained momentum under Pope Francis, who became pontiff in March this year. In June, he created a special commission to advise him on how to reform the bank, and has not ruled out closing it altogether.
"If <Pope Francis=""> pulls off a restructuring of the IOR and gives it real oversight and transparency, it would go a long way towards convincing people that he's serious about reform," said John Thavis, longtime Vatican analyst and author of The Vatican Diaries.</Pope>
<h3>IMPROVING STANDARDS</h3>
The Vatican moved to improve its financial transparency in 2010. That effort immediately hit a stumbling block when Rome magistrates investigating possible money laundering froze 23 million euros held by the IOR in two Italian banks. The IOR said it had been transferring its own funds between accounts in other countries. IOR officials told Italian magistrates at the time the money would be used to buy German securities, back then a safer bet than Italian securities, according to prosecutor's documents seen by Reuters. The magistrates later unfroze the funds, though the investigation continues.
Separately, AIF officials noticed in the summer of 2011 that large sums of money were moving several times a month in and out of the bank accounts held by the embassies of Iran, Iraq and Indonesia, according to the people with direct knowledge of the situation.
Withdrawing and depositing cash is not illegal, and embassies may legitimately transfer money in and out of the Vatican provided they offer sufficient details on the origin of the money and purpose of the transaction.
But international financial standards require banks to carry out thorough checks on the origin of large cash transfers and on the effective beneficiaries to rule out the possibility of money laundering, tax evasion and other financial crimes. Checks are heightened if the transactions involve countries, such as Iran and Iraq, considered by international regulators to be at high risk for financial crimes, and if high-level diplomats are involved.
Regulators working at the AIF at the time pressed the IOR for details about the transactions. The IOR replied, but referenced only the Iranian transfers and did not provide any further details about them, according to the people with knowledge of the situation. It did not mention the other two countries.
The AIF dropped its inquiries, according to these people. One top Vatican official briefed about the situation says the response was "silly" and that the AIF should have tried to follow up. The AIF management has since changed.
Earlier this year, Ernst Von Freyberg - a German lawyer hired in February to run the IOR - told colleagues that embassy accounts were potentially dangerous, and that he wanted to close them, according to a person with knowledge of the event. But the proposal was blocked by the Vatican's powerful Secretariat of State, whose officials feared the move might hurt diplomatic relations, this person said.
A report by Moneyval, the Council of Europe's anti-money laundering committee, said last year that while the Holy See had taken steps to improve standards, more needed to be done. The committee, which carried out the review at the Vatican's request, is due to conduct a new assessment later this year.
The bank is also coming clean on possible illicit financial activities. The Vatican has said it detected six possible attempts to use the IOR to launder money last year, and at least seven in the first half of this year. In one case, a prelate who had close ties to the IOR was arrested in June on suspicion of plotting to smuggle 20 million euros in cash into Italy from Switzerland to give to rich friends in southern Italy. The prelate, who will be tried in December, says he was not acting for personal gain.
(Edited by Alessandra Galloni, Simon Robinson and Philippa Fletcher)

Vatican Bank Likely To Close Embassy Accounts Amid Money Laundering Concerns

New Delhi, Nov 15 () Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said four real estate companies from three cities, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad, have approached to avail Rs 25,000 crore bailout fund.
 More companies are likely to approach the nodal agency for taking benefit of this window from next week, she said.
 Earlier this month, the government approved a Rs 25,000 crore fund to help complete over 1,600 stalled housing projects, including ones that have been declared NPAs or admitted for insolvency proceedings in a bid to boost growth by steering consumption in real estate and associated sectors.
 The Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) comprises of Rs 10,000 crore coming from the government and the remaining being provided by state insurer LIC and the country's largest lender SBI.
 The fund, to be set up as Category-II AIF registered with SEBI, will be managed by SBICAP Ventures Limited.
 The AIF, which was first announced by the Finance Minister on September 14, will act as a 'special window' to provide loans to over 1,600 incomplete affordable and middle-lower income housing projects.
 She further said that she will be holding a meeting with banks next week to assess their lending to the NBFC sector.
 The ministry will seek disaggregated data on how much funds have been given to AAA-rated NBFCs and NFBCs rated below AAA and also seek details from RBI and PSU Banks on funds given to AAA-rated NBFCs, investment-grade NBFCs, she added. DP DP MR
MR

4 real estate cos from three cities requests to avail bailout fund: FM

New Delhi, Mar 11 () As many as 28,979 startups have been recognised by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) as on March 1 this year, Parliament was informed on Wednesday. Maximum number of startups are recognised from Maharashtra (5,477). It was followed by Karnataka (4,206), Delhi (3,740), Uttar Pradesh (2,342), Haryana (1,635), Telangana (1,609), Gujarat (1,555), and Tamil Nadu (1,509). These startups are allowed to enjoy certain tax and non-tax benefits under the Startup India programme. "As on 1st March 2020, a total number of 3,37,335 employment has been reported by 27,137 DPIIT recognised startups," Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha. In a separate reply, the minister said there is no provision under Startup India initiative for sanctioning of funds to startups directly. However, it has established a Fund of Funds for Startups (FFS) with corpus of Rs 10,000 crore, to meet their funding needs. DPIIT is the monitoring agency and Small Industries Development Bank of India (Sidbi) is the operating agency for the FFS. The total corpus of Rs 10,000 crore is envisaged to be provided over the 14th and 15th Finance Commission cycles based on progress of the scheme and availability of funds. "As on 18th February 2020, Sidbi has committed Rs 3,123.20 crore to 47 Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) registered alternative investment funds (AIFs). These funds have raised a corpus fund of Rs 25,728 crore," Goyal sad. He said that the AIFs have invested a total of Rs 3,378.47 crore into 320 startups, out of which Rs 912.91 crore have been drawn from FFS. Fund of Funds does not directly invest into startups, but provides capital to Sebi-registered AIFs, known as daughter funds, who in turn invest money in growing Indian startups through equity and equity-linked instruments. In a separate reply on India-US trade deal, he said India has an open mind in dealing with any trade-related matter while keeping its domestic and trade interests in mind. Decisions are taken in the larger public interest after having consultation with all stakeholders, he said. "Trade related issues are a part of any ongoing economic relationship, and will continue to be discussed and addressed as a part of the regular bilateral trade engagement between India and the US," he added. RR ANSANS

28,979 startups recognised by DPIIT as on March 1: Goyal

New Delhi, Dec 11 () Piramal Group and IIFL Wealth Management on Wednesday said they have set up Rs 2,000 crore corpus for last-mile funding in real estate projects across major cities.
Piramal and IIFL Wealth Management announced a "co-investment on an Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) platform to fund select advance stage / last-mile real estate projects across Tier-1 cities in India".
This AIF with a target size of Rs 2,000 crore will be used to provide capital to tier-I developers in key markets, the company said in a statement.
Real estate sector is facing multi-year slowdown, especially in housing segment, and developers are cash-starved following liquidity crisis in non-banking finance companies, which have been a major sources of funding for builders in the last few years.
"The market today presents many opportunities for last-mile finance across projects that require a minimum amount of gap funding for completion," the statement said.
Piramal Group is engaged in primary development as well as wholesale funding in real estate. It also has a fiduciary fund management business across multiple funds and mandates across structured, preferred and pure equity.
IIFL Wealth is one of the leading wealth managers in the country, with aggregate assets of around Rs 1,70,000 crore under management, advice and distribution. It has more than 950 employees and presence in 6 major global financial hubs and 23 locations in India.
"The creation of this AIF is in line with Piramal Group's strategy to build newer platforms for co-lending with liked-minded reputed institutions. We will initially seed the fund with existing loans from Piramal Group's portfolio, while continuing to explore quality deals from the market in future," said Khushru Jijina, Managing Director, Piramal Capital &amp; Housing Finance Ltd.
With this, Piramal will also be facilitating external capital (on a fund or co-investment basis) alongside its lending business. This will enable Piramal Group to continue to further grow the lending business through a new co-investment/co-origination model.
Karan Bhagat, Founder, MD &amp; CEO, IIFL Wealth Management said: "Piramal's deep domain expertise in real estate and IIFL Wealth's ability to seize the best market opportunities have resulted in well-structured investment idea which will provide clients an ideal risk-adjusted return".
IIFL Asset Management has raised a cumulative AUM (asset under management) of around Rs 7,000 crore across 8 real estate funds, till date. Of which, it has fully exited first two funds, generating gross IRRs (internal rate of returns) of 18-22 per cent.
Piramal group, led by Ajay Piramal, has presence in industries such as healthcare, financial services, healthcare information management, glass packaging and real estate. Valued at around USD 7.3 billion, with operations in 30 countries and brand presence in over 100 markets, the group's turnover is USD 2.2 billion in FY2019. MJH BAL

You Searched For "aif" and got 13 results

SEBI asks AIFs to provide "direct plan" option to investors; introduces trail model for distribution commission

PTI

Sebi mulls flexibility for AIF, VCFs to deal with unliquidated investments beyond tenure expiry

PTI

Sebi mulls prohibiting differential rights to AIF investors

PTI

Sebi proposes performance benchmarking, standardisation of draft documents by AIFs

PTI

Sebi issues performance benchmarking guidelines for AIFs

PTI

AIF investment rises to Rs 1.4 lakh cr in Dec quarter

PTI

88% of ₹14,000 cr AIF funding goes to startups in 5 states - Karnataka tops the list

IANS

COVID-19 outbreak: Sebi extends regulatory filing deadlines for AIFs, VCFs

PTI

Union Budget 2016: Angel investors make key recommendations to the Modi govt, here's what they are

Anushree Singh

Vatican Bank Likely To Close Embassy Accounts Amid Money Laundering Concerns

Lisa Jucca and Philip Pullell…

4 real estate cos from three cities requests to avail bailout fund: FM

PTI

28,979 startups recognised by DPIIT as on March 1: Goyal

PTI

Piramal grp, IIFL Wealth Management create Rs 2,000 cr fund for realty projects

PTI

Popular Keywords

Buying Guides