Sebi probes investments between Nippon MF and Yes Bank

An Indian regulator is investigating investments between Nippon India Mutual Fund, the largest foreign-owned fund in the country, and Yes Bank between 2016 and 2019 for suspected misuse of investors' money, sources said.

At the time, the parent company of the mutual fund was owned by the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group. Yes Bank was taken over by the central bank in 2020 and sold to a consortium of banks after a dramatic rise in toxic assets.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is probing whether investments by the fund, known at the time as Reliance Mutual Fund, in perpetual bonds of Yes Bank were made as part of a deal whereby in return the lender invested in securities of Anil Ambani group companies, said two sources with direct knowledge of the matter. The sources declined to be named as the investigation is confidential.