Ushering in a new regime for overseas investments in Indian capital markets, Sebi on Saturday announced new foreign portfolio investor (FPI) regulations to put in place easier registration process and operating framework for such entities.
Ushering in a new regime for overseas investments in Indian capital markets, Sebi on Saturday announced new foreign portfolio investor (FPI) regulations to put in place easier registration process and operating framework for such entities. The new class of investors, FPIs, would encompass all FIIs (foreign institutional investors), their sub-accounts and qualified foreign investors (QFIs), and would be divided in three categories as per their risk profile. The KYC (know your client) requirements and other registration procedures would be much simpler for FPIs compared to current practices. Sebi has also decided to grant them a permanent registration, as against the current practice of granting approvals for one year or five years to the overseas entities seeking to invest in Indian markets. At a meeting held here on Saturday, the Sebi board approved the new Sebi (Foreign Portfolio Investors) Regulations 2013 to bring about these wide-ranging changes. Sebi said in a statement that the new regulations have been framed keeping in view the provisions of existing norms for FIIs and QFIs, as also the recommendations made by a committee chaired by former Cabinet Secretary K.M. Chandrasekhar. Sebi had issued instructions in September regarding risk-based KYC for FPIs as per their risk categories.
