SEBI standardises risking warning in MF ads

Nifty BSE | NSE 10/02/12 Are Mutual Funds betting on Nifty?

Market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has standardised the risk warning in advertisements of mutual fund products.

In a statement on Thursday, SEBI said audio-visual warnings have to be displayed in any advertisement for five seconds accompanied with a voiceover re-iteration.

SEBI's earlier notification for MF ads required the disclaimer to run for five seconds but was unclear on whether the audio or visual or both needed to run for the full duration.

"It has been observed that in some cases the visual and voiceover were run for less than five seconds, or if the visual stayed for five seconds, the voiceover either started late or ended early or both," SEBI said in a circular.

"In some cases, extra words were inserted in the visual and voiceover rendering the warning unintelligible," the regulator added.

The new rules, which would be implemented from May 1, 2010, also ask for a standard text to be followed: "Mutual fund investments are subject to market risks, read all scheme-related documents carefully".

SEBI had last month pulled up Reliance MF charging it of running the risk warning for less than five seconds in an advertisement. However, Reliance MF challenged SEBI's stand because of the unambigious nature of the earlier rules.