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SEBI Overhauls Mutual Fund Costs and Broker Rules, Adopts BER and Cuts Caps

The package separates taxes from fund charges to clarify costs for investors.

Overview

  • Total Expense Ratio will be recast as Base Expense Ratio with statutory and regulatory levies billed on actuals outside the cap.
  • Base expense limits are reduced across categories, including a 0.9% cap for index funds and ETFs and 1% for close‑ended equity schemes.
  • Brokerage ceilings paid by mutual funds drop to 6 basis points for cash trades and 2 basis points for derivatives, exclusive of levies.
  • SEBI scrapped the additional 5 basis points allowance linked to exit loads and set the mutual fund changes to take effect on April 1, 2026.
  • Stockbroker regulations are replaced with a 2025 framework that defines algorithmic trading, while IPO and debt rules are eased, including non‑transferability tags for pledged pre‑IPO shares and selective incentives in public debt issues; a proposal for public asset disclosures by senior SEBI officials was deferred.