Debt-based mutual funds, which almost sunk in October, could now get a far more strict disclosure regime to keep them afloat. The chief measures include allowing non-credit rating agencies to also value the debt papers and capping the liquid funds' exposure to bank fixed deposits at 30% of the total fund portfolio. A set of draft guidelines circulated among the fund houses by the Association of Mutual Funds in India address three key issues. These are valuation of the debt instruments, asset liability mismatches of the funds and their portfolio make-up.
