SEBI allows digitally signed Power of Attorney for FPIs

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on Thursday eased the onboarding process for foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) by allowing them to submit digitally signed Power of Attorney (PoA) documents.

The move is aimed at further digitising the FPI onboarding process and reducing the time taken for registration, the markets regulator said in a circular.

A Power of Attorney is a document through which a foreign portfolio investor authorises its custodian to act on its behalf.

Under the revised norms, FPIs can submit a PoA given to custodians specifying the address either in the existing notarised, apostilled or consularised form, or by executing it using a digital signature in accordance with the Information Technology Act, 2000.

"As part of SEBI’s continued efforts to digitalise the FPI onboarding process, it has now been decided to permit accepting a Power of Attorney digitally signed by FPIs in accordance with the provisions of Information Technology Act, 2000," SEBI said.

“This eliminates the need for notarisation, apostillisation or consularisation of Power of Attorney, thereby reducing the overall time taken for FPI onboarding and improving ease of doing business for FPI applicants,” it added.

The regulator has over the years taken several steps to streamline and digitise the FPI registration process, including the introduction of a Common Application Form (CAF), online facilitation of PAN, bank and demat accounts, and allowing Indian digital signatures for executing CAF and other registration documents.

SEBI has also facilitated digital signature functionality within the CAF portal and allowed registration based on scanned copies of documents.

"PoA has always been one of the most time-consuming documents for FPIs due to the requirement of an original signed in wet ink and further notarised and apostilled or consularised," Ameet Mane, CEO, Fund Business at Dovetail Capital, said.

This is a welcome move by Sebi and further helps to simplify the overall effort for FPI registration in India, he added.

The provisions of the circular came into effect from August 20, 2026.