In a draft circular published late on 23 October, India’s Securities and Exchange Board (SEBI) suggested removing the requirement that Non-Resident Indians be physically located within Indian territory when completing video-based KYC or re-KYC. At present, intermediaries must geo-tag the applicant’s GPS coordinates and confirm they match an Indian address, a stipulation that has frustrated NRIs living abroad and investment advisers alike.
SEBI now proposes that, for existing clients updating details, the location may be anywhere, provided the captured co-ordinates correspond to the proof-of-address on record. Random action prompts and anti-spoofing measures will still apply. Public comments are invited until 13 November, after which a final circular will be issued.
The change dovetails with the Reserve Bank of India’s push for ‘risk-based, jurisdiction-agnostic’ onboarding and could unlock smoother access to Indian capital markets for overseas professionals holding PIO or OCI status. Mobility teams managing equity incentive plans should monitor the rule-finalisation: easier KYC renewals may boost participation rates in employee stock-option schemes for staff based abroad.
Compliance officers must ensure that digital-identification vendors update SDKs to store latitude-longitude strings even when outside India and continue timestamping sessions for audit trails.
SEBI’s move is part of a broader effort to modernise the 2020 Video Client Identification norms, signalling that regulators recognise the practical hurdles faced by India’s 32-million-strong diaspora.
SEBI now proposes that, for existing clients updating details, the location may be anywhere, provided the captured co-ordinates correspond to the proof-of-address on record. Random action prompts and anti-spoofing measures will still apply. Public comments are invited until 13 November, after which a final circular will be issued.
The change dovetails with the Reserve Bank of India’s push for ‘risk-based, jurisdiction-agnostic’ onboarding and could unlock smoother access to Indian capital markets for overseas professionals holding PIO or OCI status. Mobility teams managing equity incentive plans should monitor the rule-finalisation: easier KYC renewals may boost participation rates in employee stock-option schemes for staff based abroad.
Compliance officers must ensure that digital-identification vendors update SDKs to store latitude-longitude strings even when outside India and continue timestamping sessions for audit trails.
SEBI’s move is part of a broader effort to modernise the 2020 Video Client Identification norms, signalling that regulators recognise the practical hurdles faced by India’s 32-million-strong diaspora.
