Inheritance Hurdles: Sebi's Pioneering Push in India's Capital Markets

Sebi Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch highlighted challenges heirs face in inheriting investments from pioneering retail investors. She acknowledged ongoing efforts to simplify the inheritance process despite emerging issues. The launch of a unified investor app by NSDL and CDSL aims to aid heirs by consolidating investment holdings.

Madhabi Puri Buch, the Chairperson of Sebi, on Thursday addressed the challenges heirs face while inheriting investments from pioneering retail investors in India. She emphasized the capital market regulator's efforts to simplify this process despite new challenges arising.

Buch commended the first generation of retail investors as 'pioneering investors and frontier folk,' noting the difficulties their heirs face in tracking down and accessing these investments. These challenges are becoming more pronounced as the generation of investors passes.

The recent launch of an app by depositories NSDL and CDSL promises to ease some of these difficulties. This unified investor platform consolidates all holdings for a single investor, democratizing access that was previously reserved for big investors. The app additionally provides real-time updates on holdings across brokerages and demat accounts, as well as access to information sent to the CBDT. Buch encouraged further enhancement of the app's capabilities.

(With inputs from agencies.)