Fired executives didn’t impact operations, liquidity, says Axis MF – Times of India

MUMBAI: Axis Mutual Fund on Tuesday said that the conduct of its two former employees who were asked to leave the fund house didn’t have any impact on the liquidity of its schemes or its operations. The fund house reiterated that other than the two fund managers who were sacked, all the top executives are continuing in their roles.
In May this year, Axis MF had sacked two of its fund managers even as a detailed probe about misconduct by both was under way. The fund house said that the two sacked employees – Viresh Joshi and Deepak Agrawal – were found to have violated securities law, but their conduct would not have any impact on its operations.
It was alleged that the two fund managers had made illicit gains by front-running – that is, trading in securities in their own accounts or accounts of close associates ahead of the funds which they managed. The fund house in February this year had started an internal investigation. The findings of the investigation have been shared with markets regulator Sebi, it said. On Tuesday, Axis MF said that based on its “detailed and thorough” investigation, it believed that the conduct of both the fund managers had violated securities laws.