In a move to make Offer Documents and Key Information Memorandum of mutual fund schemes more reader-friendly, the Securities and Exchange board of India (Sebi) today gave its nod to fund houses to simplify it.
A committee set up by the Association of Mutual Funds in India had recommended that the existing OD may be split into two parts -- Statement of Additional Information, which will incorporate all statutory information on mutual funds, and Scheme Information Document.
All mutual fund scheme ODs filed with Sebi on or after June 1, 2008 will have to be prepared in the new format. Fund houses, which have already filed their ODs for which Sebi has not yet suggested modifications, may be required to recast the same in the format of SID and SAI after receiving the final observations.
However, the schemes which have already received final observations from Sebi can use the old OD format provided they are launched on or before July 31, 2008. But, in this case SID has to be adopted.
The capital market regulator has asked fund houses to file a single SAI (common for all the schemes) as a one-time filing.
The SAI shall be filed along with the first draft SID for any scheme filed on or after June 1, 2008. After receiving Sebi comments, asset management companies shall upload the SAIs on their respective websites.
Trustees and AMCs have to ensure that SIDs and SAIs are readily available with all distributors so that investors don't find it difficult to get the same.
