SEBI halts mutual fund investments in foreign ETFs

Published on Mar 26, 2024 11:12

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has halted new investments in overseas exchange-traded funds (ETFs) by mutual funds, effective April 1, 2024. This decision comes as total investment in these ETFs nears the $1 billion cap set by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

The surge in US markets, particularly technology stocks, has driven investor interest in these foreign assets, leading to the limit being reached. SEBI`s directive restricts mutual fund houses from accepting new inflows into schemes that invest in overseas ETFs. However, investments in other overseas securities remain unaffected for now.

This limit of $1 billion applies specifically to fund-of-fund structures that invest in foreign ETFs. A separate $7 billion limit exists for direct overseas stock purchases by mutual funds. The industry has been requesting the RBI to raise the overall investment limit since 2022.