CAPITAL markets regulator SEBI on Monday eased certain reporting requirements by doing away with mandatory reporting of demat accounts and relaxing norms for bank account disclosures. The changes are aimed at enhancing regulatory efficiency, as well as to promote ease of doing business for brokers, by harmonising and relaxing the reporting obligations. Under the revised framework, stock brokers that are also banks or primary dealers will be required to report only those bank accounts to the stock exchanges that are used for their stock broking activities. Further, demat accounts maintained by stock brokers will continue to be tagged appropriately, but the requirement will not apply to those used exclusively for activities other than stock broking in the case of brokers that are also primary dealers.

 

SEBI has also done away with the requirement for stock brokers to report demat accounts to stock exchanges. However, depositories will provide details of demat accounts opened or closed by brokers to the exchanges, with the mechanism to be jointly determined. Stock brokers will have to inform stock exchanges about the opening or closure of bank accounts within seven working days, as per the circular. Any non-compliance regarding nomenclature and reporting of bank accounts, and nomenclature of demat accounts, will attract penal action as per the provisions of stock exchanges and depositories, the regulator said. The provisions of this circular will come into force with effect from April 17, 2026, it added.