Karnataka High Court defers judgement on Franklin Templeton case
With the court passing an order to take on record duly notarised copies of affidavits filed by the asset manager
Karnataka High Court defers judgement on Franklin Templeton case The Karnataka High Court deferred its judgement in the Franklin Templeton Asset Management (India) case on 5 October, with the court passing an order to take on record duly notarised copies of affidavits filed by the asset manager (e-filed originally) as per the standard operating procedure of the court, according...
Karnataka High Court defers judgement on Franklin Templeton case
The Karnataka High Court deferred its judgement in the Franklin Templeton Asset Management (India) case on 5 October, with the court passing an order to take on record duly notarised copies of affidavits filed by the asset manager (e-filed originally) as per the standard operating procedure of the court, according to sources.
Few unit holders of the six debt schemes that were shut in April filed a case against the asset manager. According to reports, the court may have considered whether Franklin followed the right processes to shut down the scheme as well as the findings of Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)'s forensic report on the six debt schemes.
Whether the money stuck in the six shut schemes would be repaid to the unitholders depends on the outcome of the verdict.
The asset manager said last week that its six shut schemes had received Rs. 8,262 crore from maturities, pre-payments and coupon payments after closing down in April.
In April, amid the Coronavirus-induced lockdown, and citing difficulties in carrying out business because of continued redemption pressure and lack of liquidity in the debt market, Franklin Templeton decided to wind up six of its debt schemes with total assets under management of over Rs. 25,000 crore.
A few days ago, the EOW of the Chennai Police registered a First Information Report (FIR) against the asset manager and Franklin Templeton Trustee Services for an alleged criminal conspiracy to defraud 300,000 investors by causing wrongful loss to them and unlawful gain to themselves.
"Please do not believe unsubstantiated rumours and baseless accusations… Since the business has been carried out in compliance with the applicable laws and all decisions were taken in the best interest of our unit holders, we are confident about the outcome of any true and fair investigation conducted in this regard," Templeton said in a note to investors last week.
Karnataka High Court has deferred the judgement in this case.