Investors to get SMS, email alerts from stock exchanges

To prevent unauthorised trading, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Tuesday asked stock exchanges to send details of transactions in equity cash and derivatives segments to investors through text messages and emails by the end of every trading day.

Stock exchanges would have to provide a platform to stock brokers to upload the details of their clients, Sebi said in a circular. Stock brokers will be required to upload clients’ details — name, mobile number, correspondence address and email address. They would have to ensure that mobile numbers/email addresses of their employees/sub-brokers/remisiers/authorised people are not uploaded on behalf of clients, the market regulator said.

Stock Brokers would also have to ensure that a separate mobile number/email address is uploaded for each client. Under exceptional circumstances, the stock broker might, at the specific written request of a client, upload the same mobile number/email address for more than one client, provided such clients belong to one family, Sebi said. Family, for this purpose, would mean self, spouse, dependent children and dependent parents.

According to the Sebi circular, stock exchanges would have to put in place necessary infrastructure and implement the SMS and email alert facility within the next four months.

After uploading of details by stock brokers, the stock exchanges would take necessary steps to verify the details by any mode they consider appropriate. This may include sending SMS and email directly to investors at the numbers/email addresses uploaded by stock brokers and sending letters to the address of investors uploaded by stock brokers.

Upon receipt of confirmation from investors, exchanges would start sending transaction details generated on the basis of investors’ PAN, directly to them. If stock exchanges observe any discrepancy in the details — such as non-confirmation by investors, bounced emails, undelivered SMSes/letters, etc — the stock broker concerned would be informed of this. To meet the expenses of providing this facility, the stock exchanges might use the amount set aside from the listing fees for providing services to the investing public, Sebi said.