Mutual fund investors can also view their stock holdings in a single account statement from January 2015.
After the interim budget announcement in 2014 to create one record for all financial assets of every individual, SEBI has facilitated a system through which investors in mutual funds and shares can get a single view of all their holdings.
Registrar and transfer agents are already providing consolidated account statements (CAS) to mutual fund investors. Now, in addition to the mutual funds, investors can also view their stock holdings in the same statement. Here’s how it will be facilitated.
Will distributors have access to this statement?
No. Only investors are entitled to receive this statement. Since investors may not be comfortable sharing their mutual fund holdings with their brokers, SEBI has asked R&Ts and depositories to keep this information confidential. The statements are sent to investors through email or physically to the registered address. If investors don’t wish to receive CAS, their data will not be shared with depositories.
How will the consolidation be done?
Consolidation will be done on the basis of PAN. In case of multiple holding, the PAN of the first holder and pattern of holding will be taken into account.
Based on the PANs provided by the mutual fund RTAs, the depositories will match their PAN database to determine the common PANs and allocate the PANs among themselves. For PANs which are common between depositories and AMCs, the depositories will send the CAS.
In other cases (i.e. PANs with no demat account and only MF units holding), the RTAs will continue to send the CAS to MF investors as is being done presently.
What if investors are dealing with two depositories?
In such cases, the depository having the demat account which has been opened earlier will be the default depository which will consolidate details across depositories and MF investments and dispatch the CAS to the investor. The default depository will give an option to investors to choose the depository through which the investor wishes to receive the CAS.
What will be the frequency of CAS?
Investors will receive CAS on a monthly basis. The RTAs will provide data to the depositories within three days from the month end and the depositories will then consolidate and dispatch the CAS within ten days from the month end.
Investors will receive CAS only in the month in which they transact in mutual funds or shares. If there is no transaction in mutual funds or shares, investors will receive CAS on a half-yearly basis.
What will be the mode of receiving CAS?
Investors who have been receiving statements through email will continue to get statements online. Investors will have an option to receive statements physically as well.
Will the data remain confidential?
SEBI has instructed depositories that data can be used only for the purpose of providing CAS and should not be shared with their depository participants. If depositories are required to share such information with unregulated entities like third party printers, the depositories will have to enter into data confidentiality agreements with them.
What if investors don’t wish to receive CAS?
From January 2015, depositories will inform investors about the facility of CAS. Investors will have an option to opt out of the facility if they do not wish to avail it.
How will the data be shared between RTAs and depositories?
RTAs will share the information with the depositories on monthly basis to enable generation of CAS.