Now Reading: SEBI opens special window for old physical share conversion
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SEBI opens special window for old physical share conversion
Investors who find old physical share certificates must convert them into demat holdings to trade them. SEBI's January 2026 circular opens a special window from 5 February 2025 to 4 February 2027…
The Story in Brief
Investors who find old physical share certificates must convert them into demat holdings to trade them. SEBI's January 2026 circular opens a special window from 5 February 2025 to 4 February 2027 for eligible legacy cases, shares bought or sold before 1 April 2019. The facility applies only to bona fide, uncontested holdings not transferred to the Investor Education and Protection Fund. Livemint reports that the conversion requires original certificates, a transfer deed executed before April 2019, KYC documents, an indemnity bond, and a latest client master list.
Separately, SEBI has approved simplified norms for transmitting securities to legal heirs, including faster processing of small-value claims and relaxation of probate requirements in certain cases. Paper stocks remain valid, but investors must dematerialise them through a depository participant to execute any market transactions.
The Indian Opinion
The hype around rediscovering paper shares hides a messy reality: decades-old records and missing documents make each claim a grind. The narrative that SEBI has made it simple glosses over the one-year lock-in, mandatory indemnity bonds, and public notices that still trip up families. For genuine cases, the test will be whether this two-year window actually speeds up small-value transmission or just piles on new paperwork. How many claims will the special window settle before 2027?
Source: livemint.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
