SEBI proposes digital KYC for overseas investors

On August 14, 2026, the India — Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) released a consultation paper proposing to ease Know Your Client (KYC) requirements for individual Persons Resident Outside India (PROIs), including Indian diasporas (NRIs), Overseas Citizenship of India (OCIs), and foreign nationals. The key proposal is to allow these individuals to complete digital KYC without being physically present in India, provided they reside in countries compliant with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). Currently, digital onboarding requires physical presence in India. SEBI also proposed making KYC records portable across securities market intermediaries, allowing investors to reuse existing KYC records. Intermediaries would be permitted to rely on KYC conducted by other SEBI-registered intermediaries or entities regulated by other financial sector regulators, with the intermediary retaining ultimate responsibility. Additional proposals include digital submission of forms and documents using electronic signatures, mandatory email IDs, and expanding the list of officials authorized to certify documents to include officials of overseas banks with relationships with Indian banks. For remote video verification, SEBI proposed safeguards such as live GPS coordinates, liveness checks, prevention of spoofed IP addresses, and concurrent audits. SEBI has sought public comments on the proposals until September 4, 2026. The regulator stated that PROIs represent a significant and growing pool of investment into India, and smoother onboarding would facilitate investment by the Indian diaspora.