In its latest circular, SEBI has asked AMCs to allow the investors to store their latest or last available Consolidated Account Statement (CAS) of their mutual fund holdings, transaction statements of mutual fund units in the last 30 days and demat account in DigiLocker, the digital document wallet of the Government of India.
The regulator aims to reduce unclaimed MF assets due to demise of the investors with this rule. Currently, details of bank account, insurance and NPS are already available in DigiLocker.
DigiLocker will provide the facility of nomination to investors which can allow the nominee(s) gain access to all the digital information of the investor after his death. DigiLocker will automatically update the status of demise of the investor from registrar of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner or from the verified information of the demise and death certificate available with the KRA (KYC Registration Agency).
This new mechanism will notify the nominee about the demise of the investor through SMS and email. The nominee can then access the documents of the investor held in his DigiLocker account after verifying his identity.
If the nominee of the investor’s DigiLocker account is the same as the nominee for the demat account, then he can start the transmission of the deceased investor’s financial assets. If the nominees in the investor’s DigiLocker account and demat account are different then the DigiLocker nominee can pass on the information of mutual fund holdings to the demat account nominee or legal heir of the deceased.
The regulator has asked all AMCs, RTAs and depositories to register with DigiLocker as an issuer to allow investors to access their MF documents. They can also provide additional documents to the investors besides the regulatory requirements.
The regulator has also asked the investors to consider using DigiLocker and specify their nominees over and above the nominations made in their demat account and MF folio. The investors who hold their securities in physical form can also use this facility by opting to convert their holdings in demat form.
This circular will come into effect from April 1.
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