The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has issued a consultation paper (15 October 2025) proposing amendments to the SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015. The draft aims to facilitate the transfer of securities executed before April 1 2019 and simplify the dematerialisation process for such holdings.
The proposals address procedural gaps that currently hinder investors from transferring or dematerialising older physical shares. SEBI plans to establish a clear mechanism for verification, ownership validation, and conversion to demat format, ensuring investor protection while reducing administrative friction.
The move supports SEBI’s broader agenda to fully digitise India’s securities ecosystem, strengthen traceability, and ease compliance for listed companies, depositories, and investors holding legacy securities.
By clearing pre-2019 procedural bottlenecks and unifying demat norms, SEBI’s proposal could unlock idle capital, improve liquidity, and enhance transparency in the secondary market. It also advances India’s Ease of Doing Business in Securities Markets agenda under the broader Digital India framework.
What is Dematerialisation (Demat)?
The process of converting physical share certificates into electronic form through a depository participant, making trading and ownership transfer faster, more secure, and paper-free.
Follow the full paper here: SEBI Proposes Amendments to Ease Legacy Share Transfers and Simplify Demat Rules
