Quant Mutual Fund clarifies CFO Harshal Patel resigned in February before SEBI’s probe

Quant Mutual Fund, which has been the subject of a Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) probe into possible front-running, clarified later on Friday that Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Harshal Patel, resigned in February ahead of SEBI's raid in June.

Initially the fund house informed investors of the resignation of its CFO, Harshal Patel, citing personal reasons for his departure from Quant Mutual Fund. Additionally, the fund firm announced the appointment of Shashi Kataria as CFO, beginning July 1.

“Mr Shashi Kataria has been appointed as Chief Financial Officer, Operations Head and Executive Director of Quant Money Managers Limited with effect from July 01, 2024, in place of Mr. Harshal Patel who has resigned due to his personal reasons,” said Quant Mutual Fund.

On Friday, however, the fund firm said that Harshal Patel had submitted his resignation on February 19 and that his final day of service was May 19, 2024.

Shashi Kataria has 20 years of overall experience in accounting, audit, direct and indirect taxation, financials & MIS, payroll, and labour law compliance, of which 13 years are from the Indian mutual fund industry, according to the fund house's notice-cum-addendum.

Shashi Kataria was formerly employed at PPFAS AMC as a director, COO, and CFO. As Manager Finance, he was also connected to DSP Blackrock Investment Managers.

In the notification, the fund house further stated that all other terms and conditions pertaining to SID, KIM, and SAI of the schemes, together with any other addendums, should remain unaltered. The SID, KIM, and SAI issued for the schemes, as well as any addenda issued thereunder, have a direct connection to this notice-cum-addendum.

The markets watchdog SEBI began investigating Quant Mutual Fund in June, and the fund promised to work with the regulator throughout any investigation.Following media reports that SEBI was looking into Quant Mutual Fund for possible front-running operations, the statement was released.

The regulator reportedly carried out search and seizure operations at the Hyderabad and Mumbai offices of Quant Mutual Fund.

In the stock market, trading on the basis of prior knowledge from a broker or analyst before the information is made accessible to clients is known as "front-running." This is an unlawful conduct.

With more than 80 lakh folios and more than ₹93,000 crore in assets under management (AUM), Quant Mutual Fund is among the fastest-growing fund firms in the nation.

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