Franklin Templeton shut funds: Ex-CEC appointed observer for e-voting

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has appointed former Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Taruvai Subayya Krishnamurthy as the observer for the e-voting process of unit holders of six shut schemes of Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund.

A SEBI statement said the appointment was made on December 18, 2020, for the e-voting process scheduled from December 26 to 29.

The capital market regulator also constituted a technical assistance team to assist the observer comprising of B.N. Sahoo, Chief General Manager, SEBI; Nayana Ovalekar, Chief Operating Officer of Central Depository Services Limited; K. Sriram , Practising Company Secretary and Scrutiniser; M. Krishna and Ch. E. Sai Prasad, Assistant Directors of the Central Forensic Science Laboratory, Hyderabad.

Franklin Templeton have come up with a statement on the appointment of the observer and the assisting team along with contact details of the observer.

The statements come a day after the Chennai Financial Markets and Accountability (CFMA), an organisation fighting for the cause of investors, moved an urgent application in the Supreme Court against SEBI over not appointing an observer to oversee the e-voting by Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund (FTMF) in terms of the court's December 9 order.

In its December 9 order, the apex court directed the markets regulator to appoint an observer to oversee the entire e-voting process by Franklin Templeton to be held between December 26 and 29. - IANS