US based NRI's - How do you guys invest in equity now?

Q&A: Questions & Answers Portfolio Q&A
42

For Opening Demat Account, Need Overseas Address proof. Not sure , will confirm with compliance team and get back to you.

43

Could you please check if one can request the PIS application form to be processed, when the applicant is outside India? I already have a demat account and of course need to open a PIS. Thanks for your help.

44

you can open account while you are in overseas and also note you will have to provide proof of your travel, while having photocopied your Address proof(your appointment letter, VISA details and Passport & immigration stamp copy.
PIS form to be downloaded and duly signed copy needs to be sent to ICICIDIRECT Mumbai and it has lead time as it needs to be approved by RBI and all these will be done by ICICI. please be in touch with NRI Customer care and also check any additional formalities have to be filled if you are staying in US/CANADAā€¦ As FATCA applicableā€¦ they might have to follow certain Statutory requirement.

45

Has anyone checked and using PIS account by Axis Bank? Seems like account can be opened by just mailing notarized documents to some US address.

http://www.axisbank.com/nri/usa-canada/investments/pis-account/features-benefits.aspx

Any reviews on the PIS account by Axis Bank?

46

@Arun, we arenā€™t comparing service providers products all we are exchanging the information how to go about with PIS account irrespective of providersā€¦we want to continue our investing without any hassles.

47

@manjunath_kb yes you can open PIS account when you are in USA, contact your Banker for the same. They will help you out. and After opening PIS account, link the PIS to trading account. All the KYC doc should be verified by Embassy.

Pranab

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48

Documentation required for US NRIs
To invest on a repatriable basis, the NRI investor must have an NRE or FCNR Bank Account in India

Some AMCs like UTI Mutual Fund now accepts investments from US citizens (NRIs). What is the documentation required? And from which account they accept the funds? NRO or NRE?

You must check with the mutual fund. Typically, individual investors should produce their Proof of identity (Photo PAN card copy or PAN card copy) and Proof of Address (any valid documents listed in section B of the KYC Application Form for Individuals). Apart from the certified true copy of the passport, an NRI investor should also provide a certified true copy of the overseas address and permanent address will also be required. If any of the documents (including attestations/certifications) towards proof of identity or address is in a foreign language, they have to be translated to English for submission. The documents can be attested, by the Consulate office or overseas branches of scheduled commercial banks registered in India.To invest on a repatriable basis, the NRI investor must have an NRE or FCNR Bank Account in India.

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@param77, @manjunath_kb

I checked with my ICICIDirect relationship manager as well as their NRI support, but they are consistently denying that you cannot create PIS account being in USA.

I also crossed check with my brother in law who is an assistant manager in HDFC Bank Ahmedabad. As per him, one can open a new NRI account being in USA, but existing RI account cannot be converted to NRI. Also to open NRI demat account for trading one must visit the branch physically as the officer who is filling up the form has to specifically put a stamp in the form that person has visited physically.

It is really surprising how complex it is to sort out this things. I am planning to check with few other banks and see if I can setup a fresh new set of NRI saving/trading accounts with a new bank where I am not a customer.

50

I was informed by my Kotak relationship manager that demat, trading and NRE accounts can be opened by US NRIs through Kotak without having to visit India. If anyone is interested please mail me his contact details on ambekarvinayatyahoodotcom so that i can forward to Kotak who will get in touch with you.
Regards

51

Thanks for offering help Vinay. I have sent you email.

52

hi - i have forwarded the mails to my RM. he informs me that online trading facility is not there. you will have to phone and put in the trade. or email.

there is no need to visit. they can do the documentation when you are in US itself.

please let me know if you dont hear from them within a few days.

53

@tejasc Thanks for your prompt response and trying out all possible ways of opening the PIS account. I had stopped looking further and in the hindsight it was good decision considering the recent carnage, however opening one now would be great help. I got the same response as you got from HDFC, hence looking for other options.

Also, a quick suggestion - There is a service provider called ā€œZerodhaā€ I have heard a good customer service experience and better platform to trade using this brokerage service. They are offering assistance to open a NRE Demat account, but for that we would still need a PIS account from your NRE bank. So we can open a new NRE account along with PIS being in the US (go to a bank, which helps in this process) and open a demat account with Zerodha or any convenient brokerage. Hope this helps.

54

It seems USA is into their restricted zone. I received the same reply from AXIS Bank,

The ā€™ United States of America ā€™ is a restricted country for opening an AxisDirect NRI trading account.

I will check out Zerodha. Though getting PIS account itself seems a bottleneck at this point.

55

Sorry Tejas I was away from Valuepickr for few weeksā€¦ you can also contact Zerodha
as mentioned by you, iā€™m using Zerodha services iā€™m happy with platform for TRADING
onlyā€¦ if you are seeking more information and research you might not able to find oneā€¦
if youā€™re doing research on your own then Zerodha is for youā€¦ and might also be helpful.
lastly may be you can also check with other options like opening Joint account may be
with Spouse or Parents to open an Demat account check if this can be helpful & do let me
know if you need any further info on Zerodha i will check with Sales guyā€¦

56

Kotak Bank knows the process, and helps you open NRE Bank + NRE PINS + NRE Demat accounts, and similar accounts for NRO as well. I have both NRE and NRO PINS, Demat etc for last two years. Is working fine. Even placing orders on phone or email is smooth as well.

Additionally, HDFC Bank also offered to open all above accounts being in US.

57

Never mind Girish. I actually did contact Zerodha after your suggestion and they forwarded my request to their contacts in HDFC and AXIS. Yesterday I received a positive response from AXIS Bank that they can open PIS account.

Response received from AXIS Bank.

As per RBI guidelines , NRIā€™s can participate in Indian Stock Market Through PIS A/c Only where as respective bank has to give the daily report to RBI . Axis bank is authorised to Issue PIS permission letter on behalf of RBI which , permit the customer to trade in NSE & BSE Shares .

I donā€™t intend to use any research information anyway so that is not a problem. I will follow up with AXIS Bank further and post the updates. But it appears they can do it.

58

Hi Tejas, I was not aware if I can have PIS Bank Accounts in one Bank, but can trade with other trading brokers. From your posts, I take it that it is possible. Can you pass me good contacts at Zerotha? Moving to them, will save me a lot on trading & CA costs. If you guys donā€™t know, CA certificates needed for each trade, and brokers charge approx 200/- for each txn, as CA fees.

59

Hi All,
Can you answer below questions if you know the details.

  1. If a person was a NRI and did transaction using his RI account for transaction, what are the steps to take to correct this mistake?

  2. Does he need to transfer all stock holdings in his RI account to NRI account?

  3. Does ICICI Direct allows RI account to be converted to NRI account? Also is the same possible for regular savings account in ICICI?

60

  1. NRI has to open non repatriable non resident demat , bank and trading account. Resident demat holding gets transferred to the new non resident demat account on filling a transfer cum account closure form. Resident account gets closed after that.

  2. Bank account remains the same but resident status changes to non resident.

  3. Additionally PIS account has to be opened. All share purchase and sales are routed through PIS account. One can have as many PIS account as one needs but with only one bank. Each demat account has to be linked to separate PIS account.

  4. ICICI , HDFC and I believe other major banks provide these services. If you are applying from abroad, all your documents need to be attested by embassy or bank. Need to check with them which is the authority they accept.

  5. Very tedious and generally takes a long time. Need to fill in Annexure II or III for informing about the details of purchase. This annexure is very important as the date you mention here is considered as the actual date of acquisition irrespective of the real purchase date as in the resident demat status.

6, Capital Gains tax is deducted while paying in for each settlement.

Starting is a big headache but should get streamlined with time. Brokerage is also higher compared to resident accounts.

61

Hi Rajul, I contacted Zerodha through their support email I found on their website (support@zerodha.com). You can try that, they responded pretty quick.

Though I understand the transaction charges would still apply based on the details I received from AXIS Bank, which is as below, but you should check with them if you already have a PIS account or a different situation. I am thinking to start the account opening process in some time though I assume it will be time consuming.

@ZionView, @mohdrehan1,

I received below details from Zerodha about their process and list of documents required for trading account, if it helps.