The Hindu : UTI MF considering privatisation option

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jun 04, 2003

Business

Business

UTI MF considering privatisation option

MUMBAI JUNE 3. The Government is likely to consider a proposal to privatise UTI Mutual Fund after the completion of the valuation and due diligence process, the Union Finance Secretary, S. Narayan, said today.

"We may consider next steps (privatisation) for UTI MF after processes such as valuation and due diligence are complete,'' Mr. Narayan told reporters here after reviewing the mutual fund's performance with its sponsors, including the Life Insurance Corporation of India and State Bank of India.

The reports from the four chartered accountancy firms, which are involved in valuation of the MF whose assets under the management were close to Rs. 13,000 crores, were expected to be ready in about six weeks, UTI MF sources said.

Mr. Narayan said this was the first time that the Government reviewed the performance with the sponsors and added that fund operations were being managed independently by the sponsors.

Though UTI MF sponsors, including Bank of Baroda and Punjab National Bank, have their own mutual funds, they were able to avoid conflict of interest and have shown matured handling of the situation, he said. The sponsors also discussed Securities and Exchange Board of India's guidelines for board of mutual fund trustees to avoid conflict of interest, he added.

The net asset value based schemes of the erstwhile Unit Trust of India were moved to the new entity, UTI Mutual Fund that came into existence with effect from February 1.

— PTI

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