Demat Account Holders: Capital markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has extended the deadline for filing nominee information for existing demat account holders by three months to December 31, 2023. Earlier, the deadline for providing the option of nominee for trading and demat account holders was September 30.
SEBI said in a circular on Tuesday, ‘In respect of demat accounts, it has been decided to extend the last date for submission of ‘choice of nomination’ till December 31, 2023.’ Adding nominees for trading accounts has also been made voluntary by the regulator as a step towards ease of doing business.
Investors need to be cautious
Demat account holders and mutual fund investors need to be cautious. In fact, now these people have got more time to nominate their successor or opt out of the scheme by filling a declaration form. But if this is not done, the demat accounts and folios of the investors will be banned. This means that the account will be ‘frozen’, preventing any transactions from taking place.
Why is a nominee important?
According to SEBI, this step has been taken to help investors safeguard their assets and hand them over to their legal heirs. It is important to have a nominee in the account because if something ever happens to you, your investments kept in the account can be given to them.
Additionally, SEBI has given time till December 31 to physical security holders to submit specimen signatures for PAN, nomination, contact information, bank account information and their respective folio numbers.
