The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), on June 15, 2022, in order to bring uniformity in practices across all constituents in the securities market, the following is decided in case of nomination for eligible Mutual Fund Unit Holders:
•Investors subscribing to mutual fund units on or after August 1, 2022, shall have the choice of providing nomination in the format specified in the fourth schedule of SEBI (Mutual Funds) Regulations, 1996 or opting out of nomination through a signed Declaration form as provided in Annexure to this circular.
•AMC shall provide an option to the unit holder(s) to submit either the nomination form or the declaration form for opting out of the nomination physically or online as per the choice of the unit holder(s). In the case of the physical option, the forms shall carry the wet signature of all the unit holder(s) and in the case of the online option, the forms shall be using the e-Sign facility recognized under the Information Technology Act, 2000, instead of wet signature(s) of all the unit holder(s).
•All AMCs shall ensure that adequate systems are in place for providing the eSign facility and take all necessary steps to maintain confidentiality and safety of client records.
•All the AMCs are advised to set a deadline as March 31, 2023, for nomination or opting out of a nomination for all the existing individual unit holder(s) holding mutual fund units either solely or jointly as mentioned above, failing which the folios shall be frozen for debits.
[SEBI/HO/IMD/IMD-II DOF3/P/CIR/2022/82]
