Centre likely to keep PIOs out of beneficial ownership restrictions

The threshold for identification of BOs of FPIs on controlling ownership interest is 25% in case of companies and 15% in case of partnership firms

The government is likely to exclude persons of Indian origin (PIOs) and overseas citizens of India (OCIs) from beneficial ownership (BO) restrictions, which will come into effect for foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) in October.

According to the guidelines put out by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) in April, non-resident Indians (or NRIs), along with PIOs/OCIs, cannot be beneficial owners of FPIs. 

The threshold for identification of BOs of FPIs on controlling ownership interest is 25 per cent in case of companies and 15 per cent in case of partnership firms. For high-risk jurisdictions, the threshold is lower at 10