COVID-19: Sebi extends deadline for brokers to submit reports till June 30

Market regulator Sebi on Friday extended the deadline for brokers to submit reports on client funding and daily margin till June 30 in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

This is the second instance when the regulator has extended the deadline for compliance.

The decision comes after receiving a representation from stock exchanges, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said in a circular.

The regulator has given time till June 30 to brokers for submitting reports on client funding for the month of April and March quarter reports on artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) applications.

The due date for submitting the reports was May 31. Earlier, the deadline to submit the report on client funding was April 8, while the same for AI and ML applications was April 15.

In view of the situation arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic and extended lockdown, based on representations received from stock exchanges, Sebi said it has decided to extend the due date for the regulatory filings and compliance requirements by their trading and clearing members.

Further, the regulator has again extended time till June 30 for not imposing penalty for non-collection or short collection of upfront margins in cash segment.

The imposition of penalty was effective from April 1 and the relaxation in this regard was given till May 17.

However, reporting of non-collection/short collection of margins in the cash segment shall continue, it added.

The relaxation in compliance requirement for maintaining call recordings of instructions received from clients will also continue till June 30 with respect to trading members working from designated alternate locations.

However, trading members and the stock exchanges shall send a confirmation on the registered mobile numbers of the clients immediately after execution of the orders.

Besides, Sebi has eased rules with regard to submission of know-your-customer (KYC) applications.

Under the norms, KYC application forms and supporting documents of the clients need to be uploaded on system of the KRA (KYC registration agency) within 10 days.

For this, Sebi said the period of exclusion will be from March 23 till June 30, 2020.

Further, the regulator has given time till June 30 to brokers for submission of reports on daily margin, weekly and monthly basis on client funds and balance.

Besides, Sebi said that update of permanent account numbers (PAN) of key managerial persons or directors and issue of annual global statement have been extended by two months from the due dates.