Securities and Exchange Board of India
Ease of onboarding for FPIs – Acceptance of digitally signed Power of Attorney
Towards SEBI’s continued digitalisation efforts, FPIs are now permitted to execute a Power of Attorney (PoA) through digital signatures in accordance with the Information Technology Act, 2000.
During interactions with foreign investors, it has been highlighted that notarisation and apostillisation of PoA takes considerable time. Digitally signed PoA is envisaged to bring down the time taken in onboarding considerably as it eliminates the need for notarisation, apostillisation or consularisation of PoA.
The above measure forms part of SEBI’s broader endeavour to leverage technology and provide a seamless, transparent and investor-friendly onboarding ecosystem for FPIs. By reducing physical documentation and procedural requirements and enabling greater use of digital processes, SEBI aims to further reduce the overall time taken for FPI onboarding.
The provisions of this circular comes into effect from August 20, 2026.
The circular issued today can be accessed on the SEBI website http://www.sebi.gov.in under the link Legal -> Circulars.
Radhika Goyal is Author of Taxconcept Gurugram head office, for deeply reported tax, gst and income tax articles on issues that matter. He splits her time between New Delhi and Bengaluru, and has worked as a reporter, a podcaster and an editor for publications across India.