CHENNAI: Market regulator Sebi on Friday said it has extensively deployed artifcial intelligence capabilities, with these tools generating a growing number of actionable alerts. These alerts have helped uncover patterns indicating recent instances of front-running in the portfolio management services (PMS) industry.“Recently, we have noticed our AI generating enough alerts, and over a period of time, the patterns emerging from those alerts suggest that a certain amount of front-running is also happening in the PMS industry. We always believed this was something largely confined to the mutual fund space. We are analysing how it has impacted investors,” Manoj Kumar, executive director of Sebi said at the Association of Portfolio Managers in India’s (Apmi) PMS Leadership Conclave here.He added that the regulator is adopting a “handholding” approach towards compliance and resolution. “We always see that when you operate, there can be some unintended violations. As long as these violations remain unintended, we are very, very accommodative. We will listen to your viewpoint,” Kumar said.However, he stressed that the objective was to create greater awareness within the PMS industry and discourage any activity that could be perceived as even “remotely” impermissible or viewed negatively by investors. Speaking to TOI on the sidelines of the conclave, Apmi chairman Biharilal Deora said the review would support the industry’s growth.
