Axis Mutual Fund on Wednesday terminated the employment of Chief Trader and Fund Manager Viresh Joshi with immediate effect, the fund house said in a release.
On May 4, Axis AMC suspended Joshi and another fund manager.
“Axis AMC is conducting an automatic internal investigation since February 2022, using reputed external consultants to assist in this investigation,” Axis MF said in an official statement.
“Following our ongoing investigation, his conduct and the decision to suspend him, Mr. Viresh Joshi (Chief Trader and Fund Manager) has been appointed to Axis AMC and Axis Mutual Fund,” the company said.
“Accordingly, Mr Joshi is not a key figure of Axis AMC,” it added.
Mint According to new details in a Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) investigation, two suspended fund managers of Axis Mutual Fund allegedly shared confidential information about the asset manager’s business with brokers in Gujarat in exchange for bribes.
“The tips were apparently shared via screenshots from WhatsApp and internal Bloomberg chats. The information shared with external brokers was used by seven entities in Gujarat who traded in large numbers on these devices. Some of these entities were shell companies.”
Axis Mutual Fund’s preliminary report on the front-running scam found that suspended fund managers – Viresh Joshi and Deepak Agarwal – had assets disproportionate to their known income and violated SEBI’s code of conduct for fund managers and dealers.