Duplicate Securities Certificates Process And Requirement Simplified: SEBI

Markets regulator the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on Wednesday simplified the procedure and documentation requirements for issuance of duplicate securities certificates to make the process more efficient and investor-friendly.

Operational guidelines for processing investors' service requests for issuance of duplicate securities certificates have been put in place.

The watchdog has also listed the documents required to be submitted by security holders while requesting the issuance of duplicate securities certificates.

The latest move comes after the regulator reviewed the process followed by the Registrars to an Issue and Share Transfer Agents (RTAs) and the issuer companies to issue duplicate securities certificates.

It has also considered the feedback received from investors and recent regulatory changes.

Regarding documents required to be submitted by a security holder while requesting the issuance of duplicate securities certificates, SEBI said a copy of the FIR, including e-FIR, necessarily having details of the securities, folio number, distinctive number range, and certificate numbers will be required.

In addition, issuance of advertisement regarding loss of securities in a widely circulated newspaper and submission of Affidavit and Indemnity bond in a prescribed format will be required, according to a circular.

"There shall be no requirement of submission of surety for issuance of duplicate securities," the SEBI said.

The new framework will come into force with immediate effect.

Suppose the value of securities as on the date of application submission, along with complete documentation as prescribed by SEBI, does not exceed Rs 5 lakh. In that case, these requirements are not applicable.

The applicant needs to quantify the value of the securities based on the closing price of such securities at any one of the recognised stock exchanges a day before the date of such submission in the application.

An overseas securities holder will be permitted to provide self-declaration of the security certificates lost, which need to be duly notarised or attested by the Indian consulate or embassy in their country of residence, along with self-attested copies of a valid passport and overseas address proof.

In case of non-availability of certificate number or folio number, the RTA, upon written request by the security holder, will provide the same to the security holder only where the signature and the address of the security holder match with the RTA or listed company's records.

If the signature and/or the address do not match, the security holder will first comply with the KYC procedure. Then the details of the securities will be provided to the security holder by the RTA or listed company.

"Fake/ forged/ stolen certificates or certificates where duplicate certificates are issued must be seized and defaced by the RTA/ listed company and disposed of in the manner authorised by the company's board," SEBI said.

To safeguard and protect the firms' interests, the regulator asked listed companies to take a special contingency insurance policy from the insurance company towards the risk arising out of the requirements relating to the issuance of duplicate securities.

SEBI said that duplicate securities would be issued in the dematerialised mode only.