Trailing payouts catch Sebi attention, regulator examining divergence

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) could take a re-look at the trail commission structure of mutual funds (MFs).

This is part of its examining instances of divergence between first-year and subsequent commission payouts in some MF schemes, according to people aware of the matter.

Sources suggested the divergence in first and subsequent trail payouts had been 45-50 basis points.

According to industry participants, divergences in such schemes happened after fund houses were debarred from offering upfront commission, and some of them are using the grey area to incentivise distributors through higher trail in the first year. “In