After Chanda and Deepak Kochchar, the Kudvas are the second power couple in the financial world to come under the regulatory glare.
The Securities Appellate Tribunal has stayed a Sebi order that barred Franklin Templeton's Asia Pacific head Vivek Kudva and his wife Roopa from the securities market for one year.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has directed Franklin Templeton MF to pay Rs 5 crore as penalty, return over Rs 450 crore collected as 22-month investment management and advisory fees, and imposed a two-year ban on launching new debt schemes for alleged irregularities in running six of its debt schemes that were shuttered last year.
The Enforcement Directorate is conducting searches at some places linked to asset manager Franklin Templeton and its former and current executives as part of a money laundering investigation, officials said on Thursday. The federal agency is looking to gather more evidence as part of its investigation against the company and its promoters under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Office and residential premises in Mumbai and Chennai are being searched, they said.
Franklin Templeton Asset Management (India) on Tuesday said it strongly disagrees with the findings in Sebi's order in the case of winding of six debt schemes in 2020 and has decided to challenge the direction in Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT).
Following the money and freezing anything unaccounted is the only way to set an example for others, suggests Debashis Basu.
Sebi on Monday barred Franklin Templeton AMC from launching any new debt scheme for two years and fined it Rs 5 crore for violating regulatory norms in the case of winding up of six debt schemes in 2020. Also, it has been asked to refund investment management and advisory fees to the tune of Rs 512 crore, including interest, collected with respect to the six debt schemes, Sebi said in its 100-page order. In a separate order, the regulator has barred Vivek Kudva, former head of Asia Pacific (APAC) for Franklin Templeton, and his wife Roopa from the securities market for one year for redeeming units of Franklin Templeton MF schemes while in possession of non-public information.
The ED case follows the police complaint for alleged criminal conspiracy and defrauding investors.
Sebi on Monday imposed a penalty totalling Rs 15 crore on senior officials of Franklin Templeton AMC and its trustee for violating regulatory norms in the case of winding up of six debt schemes in 2020. However, a spokesperson of Franklin Templeton said they disagree with the findings in Sebi's order and intend to file an appeal with the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT). A fine of Rs 3 crore has been levied on Franklin Templeton Trustee Services Pvt Ltd and Rs 2 crore each on Franklin Asset Management (India) Pvt Ltd President Sanjay Sapre and its chief investment officer Santosh Kamat, according to the Sebi order. In addition, the regulator imposed a penalty of Rs 1.5 crore each on fund managers -- Kunal Agarwal, Pallab Roy, Sachin Padwal Desai and Umesh Sharma -- as well as former fund manager Sumit Gupta.
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