The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has penalised NJ Asset Management Company (AMC) in a case pertaining to violation of portfolio manager regulations. SEBI in its adjudication order dated April 24, said that the market regulator conducted an inspection of NJ Asset Management Private Limited from April 01, 2020 to December 31, 2021 and found that NJ AMC accepted investment from clients, without meeting the minimum investment criteria, as prescribed in PM Regulations.

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NJ Asset Management Private Limited has been fined Rs 1 lakh in this matter. SEBI has asked NJ AMC to pay the said amount of penalty within 45 days of receipt of this order.

"In the event of failure to pay the said amount of penalty within 45 days of the receipt of this Order, SEBI may initiate consequential actions including but not limited to recovery proceedings under section 28A of the SEBI Act for realization of the said amount of penalty along with interest thereon, inter alia, by attachment and sale of movable and immovable properties," the SEBI order noted.

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The allegation levelled against NJ AMC is that the AMC accepted initial investment without meeting the minimum investment criteria as prescribed in PM Regulations. A show cause notice in this regard was issues by SEBI on March 24, 2023 and the hearing was conducted on April 05, 2023.

On April 19, 2023, Neeraj Choksi, Director, Rajiv Shastri, CEO, Vineet Nayyar, COO and Punam Upadhyay, Chief Compliance officer & Company Secretary attended the hearing and made submissions.

"The Adjudicating Officer accorded us the opportunity to present our understanding of these instances. We conveyed that these were completely unintentional and in the nature of errors. We highlighted the fact that these did not result in any material benefit to us considering the scale and scope of our business. We also expressed our intention to use this as an opportunity to improve our processes, much of which has already been implemented. We are happy to note that the Order reflects these and reiterate that we are committed to following the rules and regulations as laid down by SEBI from time to time. We also remain committed to serving our investors and keeping their interest foremost in our business," NJ AMC said in response to CNBC TV18's query about the adjudication order. ​

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