The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has streamlined the compliance process for foreign portfolio investors (FPIs). Under the new guidelines, Indian banks can now accept original certified copies of specific KYC documents that have been authenticated by authorized officials abroad.
This change, effective immediately under the RBI’s Commercial Banks – KYC Amendment Guidelines, 2026, grants FPIs access to a facility previously available only to Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) and Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs).
Banks will accept these certified KYC documents as long as they are validated by recognized officials within the RBI framework. Authorized certifiers include officials from foreign branches of scheduled commercial banks registered in India, representatives of foreign banks with ties to Indian banks, notaries public, court magistrates, judges, and Indian embassies or consulates in the country where the non-resident client resides.
This means that FPIs located abroad will no longer need to go through the process of certifying their documents in India. Instead, they can submit original certified copies using one of the recognized foreign certification methods.
However, the RBI’s amendment maintains the fundamental requirement for banks to verify the KYC of FPIs.
As of last Friday, FPIs had withdrawn ₹23,676 crore through sales on exchanges, indicating a return to negative inflow in India after positive trends in July and August. This shift is attributed to escalating tensions between the U.S. and Iran, along with U.S. 10-year bond yields reaching 5%. Despite these challenges, the resilience of the Indian economy and positive earnings growth projections for companies remain encouraging factors.