Securities and Exchange Board of India

Press Release No. 193/2015

Order in the matter of Sahara Mutual Fund

Shri Prashant Saran, Whole Time Member, SEBI, has passed an order on July 28, 2015 directing the cancellation of the Certificate of Registration of Sahara Mutual Fund.

However, keeping the interests of unit holders, the order of cancellation of the Certificate of Registration of the Sahara Mutual Fund shall be effective on expiry of six (6) months from the date of the said order.

In the meantime, pending cancellation of the certificate of registration of the Sahara Mutual Fund, the following are directed:

1. Sahara Mutual Fund/ Sahara Asset Management Company Private Limited (Sahara AMC) shall not take any new subscription from the investors (including existing investors in Systematic Investment Plans (SIP)/ Systematic Transfer Plans (STP). Further, the Sahara Mutual Fund shall not levy any penalties/ loads on the SIP/ STP investors for not depositing the installments.
2. Sahara Mutual Fund shall make efforts to transfer the activities of Sahara India Financial Corporation Limited (Sahara Sponsor) and Sahara Asset Management Company Private Limited (Sahara AMC) to a new Sponsor and a SEBI approved Asset Management Company at the earliest.
3. The Board of Trustees of the Sahara Mutual Fund shall oversee and ensure protection of the unitholders' interests during the above period. On transfer of the activities as mentioned at para (ii) above, the Board of Trustees shall be re-constituted in accordance with the SEBI (Mutual Fund) Regulations, 1996.
4. In the event of failure of Sahara Mutual Fund to complete the process of transition as mentioned at para (ii) above, within a period of five (5) months from the date of this order, then Sahara Mutual Fund should compulsorily redeem the units allotted to its investors and credit the respective funds to its investors, without any additional cost, within a period of thirty (30) days thereafter and wind up the operations of the Mutual Fund.
5. On expiry of the six (6) months from the date of this order, Sahara Mutual Fund shall return the certificate of registration to SEBI.

Sahara MF along with Sahara AMC and Sahara Sponsor were found to be no longer 'fit and proper' persons to carry out the business of Mutual Fund.

The full text of the  order  is available on the website:  www.sebi.gov.in