DEMAT account for a NRI

[soxfan]

Hi,
Wondering about the process for an NRI to open a DEMAT account. Can it be done online? Any relevant info would be appreciated.

Thanks

[Lakshya]

If you have an account with ICICI you can link that with your Demat. They call it can be done via online. Most of the doc you will upload online. But after two days they will tell mail xyz to this address. Remember as per my understanding Demat is only useful if you are buying individual stock. For Indian MF and ETF, there is some PFIC rule and it will mess up your US tax return. Many financial institutes will open NRI demat accounts. But for USC it's not attractive. I started my process with ICICI and eventually changed my mind.

If you have funds in India pull it back to the US via legal channel. That is the most practical way to deal with INR if you are not moving back to India.

[soxfan]

Thanks for the info. I contacted HDFC and working with them.

I never did trading with Indian stocks- this is for a specific purpose (received pre-ipo stocks from a company as advisory compensation; apparently I need to have a dmat account for them to award post-ipo shares; not expecting to make any future trades but want to set this up for selling stock that I “may” continue to receive from this company)