Axis MF’s Ex-manager Deepak Agrawal Pays Rs85.8 Lakh To Settle Case with SEBI
Moneylife Digital Team 15 September 2025
Axis Mutual Fund’s former fund manager Deepak Agrawal has settled regulatory proceedings initiated by the market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) over governance lapses and misconduct allegations.
 
The settlement involves a payment of Rs85.80 lakh and the clawback of more than 43,000 mutual fund units, marking the closure of one of the high-profile cases scrutinising Axis Mutual Fund’s operations. On 20 May 2022, Axis MF terminated Mr Agrawal who was under probe for alleged irregularities.
 
The case stems from SEBI’s forensic audit of Axis Mutual Fund for the period 1 April 2020 to 30 September 2022. Based on its findings, SEBI issued a show-cause notice (SCN) on 20 January 2025, alleging that Mr Agrawal shared stock tips and disclosed sensitive trading information related to schemes of Axis MF.
 
These actions were considered violations of the SEBI (Mutual Funds) Regulations, 1996, and provisions of the SEBI Master Circular of May 2023.
 
The SCN also accused him of failing to disclose his directorship in a private company, seeking benefits in kind for providing inside information, engaging in unethical conduct and sharing internal research reports with outsiders.
 
Additionally, Mr Agrawal was alleged to have passed information to employees of listed equity firms, inducing them to trade in securities aligned with Axis MF’s positions.
 
Faced with potential penalties, Mr Agrawal submitted a settlement application on 19 March 2025, seeking to resolve the matter without admitting or denying the charges. After deliberations, SEBI’s internal committee (IC) recommended settlement terms on 8 April 2025, which required him to pay Rs85.80 lakh and return 43,310 units comprising 38,342 units from Axis Quant Fund and 4,968 units from Axis Value Fund.
 
The high-powered advisory committee (HPAC) endorsed the revised settlement terms on 5 June 2025, and SEBI’s Panel of whole-time members (WTM) gave final approval on 18 August 2025. The payment of the settlement amount was confirmed on 12 September 2025, with Axis MF verifying the unit redemption on 26 August 2025.
 
By disposing the case under the SEBI (Settlement Proceedings) Regulations, 2018, the regulator concluded the proceedings but retained the right to reopen them if Mr Agrawal is found to have misrepresented facts or violated the settlement terms.
 
In November last year, Axis Asset Management Company (AMC) Ltd and Axis Mutual Fund Trustee Ltd paid Rs16.57 lakh to SEBI to settle charges of charging the total expense ratio (TER) to AMC's books
Comments
angelo.extross
6 months ago
Do the Regulators (Income Tax, EOW, Etc) have any su0 moto obligation to investigate
the source of income of this individual from which he was able to pay 85.8 Lakhs as a
settlement?
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