Pranab Mukherjee meets Sebi Board, including new chairman U K Sinha

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday met Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) officials, including its new chairman U K Sinha in the national capital, and reviewed the activities of the market regulator.

"I had a very fruitful and useful discussion with the (Sebi) Board members," Mukherjee told after the Board meeting of Sebi.

Sinha made a presentation about the different activities being carried out by the market regulator.

"Lot of improvements are taking place and other activities as we know," Mukherjee said.

As part of a custom, Finance Minister meets the entire Board of Sebi after presenting the Union Budget . Mukherjee tabled the Budget on February 28, 2011.

Under the Budget proposals, foreign entities will be able to invest directly in mutual funds, which will increase the fund flow into capital markets.

"To liberalise the portfolio investment route, it has been decided to permit Sebi registered mutual funds to accept subscriptions from foreign investors who meet the KYC requirements for equity schemes," Mukherjee said in his Budget speech.