Market regulator SEBI has urged Registrar and Transfer Agents of mutual funds to integrate their operations and develop a common platform that will deliver a better experience to investors across the industry.
Asset Management Companies and depositories will facilitate the RTAs for the development of the proposed platform, said SEBI. Currently, there are two major RTAs — CAMS and Karvy.
The integrated platform will enable a user-friendly interface for investors for the execution of mutual fund transactions including purchase, redemption and switch besides other facilities. Investors will be able to access the services of all mutual funds in an integrated manner.
In this regard, SEBI said AMCs, RTAs, and depositories will take necessary measures to provide data on a real-time basis to the proposed platform.
Additionally, RTAs and depositories will also share their respective data feeds between themselves for the generation of investment-related reports.
The proposed platform may also over time, provide services to the distributors, registered investment advisors, AMCs, Stock Exchange platforms and digital platforms for transacting in mutual funds to further augment ease of investing and servicing of investors.
AMCs, RTAs, and Depositories will review and harmonize the processes across the industry to provide a single-window, integrated, simplified investment and service experience for the investors. The platform should be scalable with robust cybersecurity protocols and supported through an API-based architecture. The platform will adopt the Cyber Security and Cyber Resilience framework specified by SEBI.
Further, APIs could be exposed to other industry stakeholders such as distributors, registered investment advisors, Stock Exchange platforms, and digital platforms with due approval of the concerned mutual fund on mutually agreed terms, it said.
The RTAs should be open for system audit and cybersecurity audits. Further, RTAs shall ensure that the platform complies with the guidelines for Business Continuity Plan and Disaster Recovery specified by SEBI, it said.