Page 12 - Banking Finance November 2019

ROUNDUP

SEBI relaxes FPI norms, Deadline for PAN-Aadhaar linkage extended to Decem-
allows off-market trans- ber 31
fer of securities For the seventh time, the Income Tax Department has extended the deadline
for PAN-Aadhaar linkage to December 31,
While making relaxing the regulatory 2019.
frame-
work for The earlier deadline was September 30.
foreign However, there are demands from various
portfolio segments of the society for extension which
investors, the Department accepted the new notifica-
the SEBI tion late on September 28.
has simplified KYC requirements for The PAN will be invalid in if the deadline is not adhered. PAN is the 10-charac-
them and permitted them to carry ter alpha-numeric identity issued by the Income Tax Department, while Aadhaar
out off-market transfer of securities. is a 12-digit unique identity issued by the Unique Identification Authority of In-
In addition, the regulator has broad- dia (UIDAI).
based the classification for foreign As on March 31, 2019, over 44.57 crore taxpayers had been allotted PAN; of
portfolio investors (FPIs) and simpli- this, nearly 98 per cent or 43.52 lakh were individual tax payers. As on date,
fied their registration process. The more than 124.45 crore Aadhaar identity cards have been generated.
notification comes after the board of
Sebi in August approved a proposal The Supreme Court’s judgement on Aadhaar, has made it clear that if one has
in order to simplify the regulatory both Aadhaar and PAN, then linking them is mandatory. If the assessee does
norms for FPIs. not hold an Aadhaar number, then PAN would not be considered invalid. How-
ever, if an assessee holds an Aadhaar number, it should be intimated to the
The new norms have been redrafted Department.
based on the recommendation of a
committee headed by former RBI UP cops asked to identify Illegal Migrants
deputy governor H R Khan. Under
the new regulations, FPIs would be The Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police (DGP) OP Singh in a letter to all
classified into two categories instead district police chiefs has asked to identify and
of three. verify illegal Bangladeshi migrants and “other
foreigners”, which has led to speculation of
Presently, SEBI has classified FPIs into the NRC exercise being replicated in politi-
three categories with the easier
cally significant UP after controversial imple-
compliance norms for Category-I FPIs mentation in Assam.
and the strictest for Category-III FPIs.
The most well-regulated FPIs come Singh said it has come to the notice that
under Category-I. Bangladeshis are living illegally in the state and many of them have gone miss-
ing. “In the present scenario, to strengthen the state's internal security, it is
As per the new rule, the government
and government-related investors necessary to identify and verify Bangladeshis and other foreigners residing in
such as central banks, sovereign the state," he said.
wealth funds, international or multi- The DGP wrote that places like railway stations, bus stations, new colonies and
lateral organizations or agencies in- roadside locations where Bangladeshis and other foreign nationals seek shelter
cluding entities controlled or at least should be identified. The residents there should be verified and the exercise
75% directly or indirectly owned by recorded on video, he instructed.
such government and government
Singh further said if a resident claims to belong to any other state, the claim
related investor; pension and univer-
should be verified in a time-bound manner. “It should also be probed what docu-
sity funds would fall under the Cat-
ments, like ration cards, voter ID cards, driving licences and passports, they have
egory-I FPIs.
procured to legalise their stay," he added.
12 | 2019 | NOVEMBER | BANKING FINANCE