The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has directed intermediaries to upload KYC (know your client) details of existing clients to a centralised database maintained by KYC registration agencies (KRA).
Announcing the timeline for uploading the data, SEBI said, this would remove duplication in the process of collecting KYC details.
All registered intermediaries — KYC registration agencies (KRAs), brokers through stock exchanges, depository participants (DPs) through depositories, mutual funds (MFs), portfolio managers (PMs), venture capital funds (VCFs), collective investment schemes (CIS), association of mutual funds in India (AMFI) have been directed to upload data according to the timeline and send original documents to KRAs latest by March 31.
The process works as follows:
Intermediary uploads details on KRA system and sends original KYC documents to KRA according to the timeline. KRA updates the record in its system and sends an acknowledgement to the client.
Intermediaries have been directed to capture the latest KYC data on every client and also specify the information about a client that is either missing or not available.
SEBI has directed exchanges and depositories to inform all their members (brokers and DPs), disseminate the information on their Web sites, amend byelaws monitor compliance through half-yearly audits and communicate implementation status to SEBI.
In case of mutual funds, MF trustees and the boards of AMCs would be responsible for implementing this circular. For other intermediaries, the respective board of directors would be responsible for implementation, said SEBI
raghavendrarao.k@thehindu.co.in