Do not rush through mutual fund disclaimers in television commercials, says Piyush Goyal
Mumbai:
Expressing displeasure over disclaimers in mutual fund (MF) television advertisements before he can actually read them, commerce and consumer affairs minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday said financial instruments Important information about must be run at the same speed as commercial.
Mr Goyal even said that he is ready to change the rules if necessary to bring the over Rs 37 lakh crore MF industry in line.
“They (the ads) read the disclaimer too fast, which you can’t even understand. The disclaimer should be prominent and in the same tone or tempo as the rest of the ad. You can’t rush through a disclaimer, that disclaimer loses its purpose,” Mr Goyal said while addressing a National Stock Exchange (NSE) event.
He asked NSE to approach asset management companies on the issue and also offered to change the regulation to enable it.
“If you need any help, I will be happy to arrange it through consumer protection rules of the ministry of consumer affairs or consumer protection laws,” he said.
“But it is necessary that when investors are coming into the exchange or any (financial) product they should be aware or invest with open eyes,” the minister said.
Earlier, he asked the stock exchanges to develop a Common Know Your Customer (KYC) platform, which can be used by various financial institutions and ensure faster entry of an investor or participant on a single platform.
Mr Goyal said the ministry itself drew inspiration from a system for admissions to US universities that relies on add-on information to be submitted by a candidate based on the particular university or course sought, and similar The search can be done by the financial sector.
“I urge you to consider simplification of rules (on KYC) with the regulator or the banking system and involve more people in the system,” he said. ,
Goyal further said that financial products have to pass through the prism of trust, transparency and accountability, and asked stock exchanges to take cognizance of this to attract inflows from retail and institutional investors.
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