Andy Mukherjee, Columnist

Templeton’s India Closures Leave a Bad Taste

Regulators need to stop the nudges and forcibly wield their authority on behalf of investors in suspended funds.

There must be consequences.

Photographer: Avishek Das/SOPA/LightRocket/Getty

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The courtroom drama over shutting down six of Franklin Templeton’s local Indian mutual funds will soon come to an end, but the denouement shines an unkind light on how the country is running its capital markets.

Almost 97% of unitholders have voted in favor of winding up the plans, which the U.S. fund house abruptly put into suspended animation during a nationwide Covid-19 lockdown last April. But what choice did investors really have?