GIFT City Gujarat: Central Depository Services (India) Limited (“CDSL”), Asia’s first and only listed depository, has announced that it’s wholly owned subsidiary CDSL IFSC Limited (CDSL IFSC) has been recognized as the Bullion Depository in IFSC by the International Financial Services Centres Authority (“IFSCA”).

The Bullion Depository said it will now facilitate holding and transfer of Bullion viz. Gold initially which will be extended to Silver and any other commodities that is eligible to be held / traded by IFSCA at IFSC, GIFT City.

The statement said, the Depository will further embark towards achieving the objective of making IFSC the ‘go-to’ location for all eligible investors and be the preferred choice amongst the financial and bullion markets.

Commenting on the above, Mr. Nehal Vora, MD & CEO of CDSL stated: “This is a prominent moment for us and the entire IFSC ecosystem. I am certain that the Bullion depository will not only contribute to the growth of the financial eco-system, but will also provide support to ensure that the IFSC becomes the epitome of world class sophistication in terms of products and services .”

About CDSL (press release):

Central Depository Services (India) Limited (CDSL) is India’s leading and only listed depository, with an objective of providing convenient, dependable and secure depository services at affordable cost to all market participants. CDSL received its certificate of commencement of business from SEBI in February 1999 and it facilitates holding and transacting in securities in the electronic form and facilitates settlement of trades on stock exchanges.

CDSL maintains and services 4 crore Demat accounts of Investors or Beneficial Owners (BOs) spread across India. These BOs are serviced by CDSL’s 580+ Depository Participants (DPs) from over 20,600 locations.

CDSL’s enduring focus on delivering quality services and innovative products has propelled it on a high-growth path in recent years. Since the financial services industry has become increasingly IT-reliant, cutting-edge technology is at the heart of CDSL’s strategic vision.

Major shareholders of CDSL include BSE, Canara Bank, HDFC Bank, LIC and Standard Chartered Bank.

CDSL along with its subsidiaries also provides a host of services to the financial intermediaries and markets, these include:

● CDSL Ventures Limited (CVL) looks after “Customer profiling and Record Keeping” for issuance of Know Your Client (KYC) acknowledgement to mutual fund investors. It is the first and largest KYC Registration Agency (KRA) in India with over 3 crore KYC records. The KRA enables a KYC compliant investor to avoid duplication of KYC process while opening an account for the purpose of trading / investment through multiple intermediaries in the securities market. CVL also provides eKYC and is registered as AUA/KUA with UIDAI.

● CDSL Insurance Repository Limited (CDSLIR) is a company registered under the Companies Act, 1956. CDSL IR has received registration certificate from Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) to act as an ‘Insurance Repository’ under the Guidelines on Insurance repositories and electronic issuance of insurance policies dated 29th May 2015.

● CDSL Commodity Repository Limited allows the Farmer, Farmers Producer Organizations (FPOs), Manufacturers, etc., to obtain electronic warehouse receipts (negotiable or non-negotiable) [eNWRs or eNNWRs] in a demat account against deposit of commodities in any of the warehouses registered with Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority (WDRA).

● CDSL IFSC Limited (CDSL IFSC) is a company registered under the Companies Act, 2013 CDSL IFSC has received approval from International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) to act as a ‘Foreign Depository’ to run the depository system and any other ancillary activities as approved by IFSCA.