SEBI in its board meeting held on Tuesday, 29th March 2022 approved amendments to Collective Investment Schemes regulations to strengthen the regulatory framework for CIS in line with Mutual Fund regulations to remove regulatory arbitrage.
Collective Investment Scheme is an investment scheme where various individuals come together and pool their money in order to invest their whole fund collection in a particular asset and are regulated by SEBI under the SEBI (Collective Investment Scheme) Regulations of 1999.
Key changes include;
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Enhancement of net-worth criteria and requirement of having track record in the relevant field as an eligibility requirement for registration as a collective investment management company (CIMC).
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CIMC and its group/associates/shareholders are restricted to 10% shareholding or representation on the board of another CIMC to avoid conflict of interest.
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Mandatory investment of CIMC and its designated employees in the collective investment schemes to align their interest with that of the CIS.
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Mandatory requirement of minimum number of investors, maximum holding of a single investor, and minimum subscription amount at CIS level.
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Other key changes are rationalization of fees and expenses to be charged to the scheme, reduction of timelines for the offer period of the scheme, allotment of units, and refund of money to investors.
SEBI also made amendments to SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015. Simplifying the procedure for transmission of securities.
Key changes include;
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The existing threshold limit for simplified documents has been revised from Rs. 2 lakhs to Rs. 5 lakhs for securities held in physical mode per listed issuer and Rs. 5 lakhs to Rs. 15 lakhs for securities held in the dematerialized mode for each beneficiary account.
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Legal Heirship Certificate or its equivalent certificate issued by a competent Government authority will be an acceptable document for transmission of securities.
Along with this SEBI also approved amendments to allow SEBI registered to enable SEBI registered Custodians to provide custodial services in respect of silver or silver related instruments held by silver ETFs of Mutual Funds.
https://www.sebi.gov.in/media/press-releases/mar-2022/sebi-board-meeting_57326.html