Demat Option For Us-64, Mastergain

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The Unit Trust of India (UTI) has decided to offer unitholders of US-64 and Mastergain 92 the option of getting their scrips dematerialised.

This follows the promulgation of an ordinance amending the Depositories Act which extends the stamp duty exemption to mutual fund units.

The two schemes, which have a large investor base, will now be allowed to be dematerialise shares and traded in the NDSL.

Says UTI executive trustee P J Nayak: "Almost 40 per cent of the unitholder base in US-64 comprises large institutional investors. It would make much better sense to offer them the option of making their holdings fungible." The US-64 scheme has 200 lakh unitholders while the Mastergain scheme has a unitholder base of about 35 lakh folios.

The earlier Depositories Act did not provide for units of mutual funds, as well as shares of financial institutions not coming under the purview of the Companies Act and registered under various other Acts, to be exempt from payment of stamp duty within a depository. The securities of all these insititutions can now be traded without attracting any stamp duty.