BSE Technologies gets Sebi nod to operate as KYC Registration Agency

BSE Technologies, a subsidiary of BSE, has received authorisation from capital markets regulator Sebi to act as a KYC Registration Agency (KRA).

KRA is a Sebi-regulated intermediary that grants the market participants authorisation for investors' Know Your Client (KYC) that will be mandatory for investment in securities market.

"We thank Sebi for reposing its faith in BSE to operate as a KYC Registration Agency. KYC KRA has become a key segment for securities market investors and acts as a starting point for any investor's journey in the securities market.

"The long experience of BSE for over 147 years as a frontline regulator will help in ensuring that BTPL (BSE Technologies Pvt Ltd) will maintain highest standards of governance and practices," Ashishkumar Chauhan, MD and CEO, BSE said in a statement on Thursday.

According to him, this is an important step by Sebi to enhance the investor faith in the securities markets. On Wednesday, Sebi issued fresh guidelines for KRAs whereby such agencies will have to independently validate KYC records of all clients from July 1.

Under the guidelines, KRAs will independently validate records of those clients (existing as well as new) whose KYC has been completed using Aadhaar as an Officially Valid Document (OVD). The records of those clients who have completed KYC using non-Aadhaar OVD will be validated only upon receiving the Aadhaar number.

The move came after Sebi, in January, notified new norms to make KRAs responsible for carrying out independent validation of the KYC records uploaded on their system by Registered Intermediaries.