FPI Monitor
Also written NSDL FPI Portal
The NSDL electronic portal (www.fpi.nsdl.co.in) where FPI applicants file the Common Application Form, DDPs grant registration and the FPI Registration certificate is generated.
In plain language
The Common Application Form has to live somewhere. NSDL built a dedicated website for exactly this purpose.
That website is called the FPI Monitor. Its address is www.fpi.nsdl.co.in. A foreign investor applying to become an FPI fills in and submits the Common Application Form here, electronically, to its chosen Designated Depository Participant.
The portal does not stop at receiving applications. It also handles what happens after the DDP is satisfied with an applicant.
How it works
NSDL developed the Common Application Form directly on the NSDL FPI Portal, called FPI Monitor, reachable at www.fpi.nsdl.co.in, so that applicants can fill in and submit the CAF electronically to their DDP. Once the applicant's DDP completes its own due diligence, the DDP grants registration to the FPI on the NSDL FPI portal itself, rather than through any separate channel.
Upon registration, the FPI Registration certificate is generated by the NSDL FPI portal automatically. NSDL has also integrated the FPI Monitor with the Income Tax Department, through Protean eGov Technologies Limited, so that a single sitting at the portal covers 3 outcomes at once — registration, PAN allotment and KYC — without a further stand-alone tax filing.
A worked example
A sovereign wealth fund seeking Category I FPI status logs onto www.fpi.nsdl.co.in, the FPI Monitor, and completes its Common Application Form there electronically, submitting it to its chosen DDP through the same portal.
Once the DDP has completed its due diligence — checking, among other things, that the fund is controlled or at least 75% owned, directly or indirectly, by a Government or Government-related investor, the threshold for Category I status on that ground — the DDP grants the fund's registration directly on the FPI Monitor. The portal then generates the fund's FPI Registration certificate automatically, and, through the portal's integration with the Income Tax Department, the fund's PAN is allotted through the same process.
Why NISM asks about it
Chapter 12, section 12.1, names the FPI Monitor as the specific NSDL portal on which the CAF is filed and FPI registration is granted, immediately after describing the FPI regime that replaced the earlier FII/Sub-Account/QFI structure.
Expect a question naming the NSDL portal used for FPI applications (FPI Monitor, at www.fpi.nsdl.co.in) and on what it generates once a DDP grants registration — the FPI Registration certificate, automatically.
Common exam traps
- FPI Monitor is NSDL's portal, not a SEBI or RBI system — the workbook is specific that NSDL developed and hosts it.
- Registration is granted by the DDP on the portal itself, not by SEBI logging in separately — SEBI's role is regulatory oversight of the DDP, not direct portal-based approval.
- The FPI Registration certificate generates automatically once registration is granted — it is not a separate document the FPI must apply for afterwards.
- Do not confuse FPI Monitor with SCORES, the separate SEBI portal for investor grievance redressal — the two serve entirely different purposes.
Check yourself
1.An FPI registration certificate is granted by:
- a)SEBI directly, on application by the foreign investor
- b)The Designated Depository Participant, on behalf of the Board
- c)The Reserve Bank of India
- d)The stock exchange on which the FPI intends to trade
Show the answer
Answer: (b) The Designated Depository Participant, on behalf of the Board
No person shall buy, sell or otherwise deal in securities as a foreign portfolio investor unless it has obtained a certificate granted by the designated depository participant on behalf of the Board.
The phrase "on behalf of the Board" is the key. The DDP is not registering the FPI in its own right — the function has been delegated to it by SEBI.
And the due diligence goes with the delegation: DDPs will carry out the necessary due diligence and shall grant registration to FPI and issue registration certificate to the FPI.
How the application is made: an application for the grant of certificate as foreign portfolio investor shall be made to the designated depository participant in SEBI prescribed forms and shall be accompanied by the fee as specified in the regulations.
Filed through the CAF: SEBI has introduced Common Application Form (CAF) which enables FPI applicants to apply for the purpose of (a) registration of FPIs with SEBI (b) allotment of PAN and (c) carrying out of KYC for opening of Bank & Demat Account.
Electronically, on NSDL's portal: NSDL developed the CAF on NSDL FPI Portal viz., FPI Monitor (www.fpi.nsdl.co.in) to be filled by the applicant in an electronic manner.
And the certificate issues from the same system: post due diligence, DDP grants registration to FPI on the NSDL FPI portal. Upon registration, FPI Registration certificate is generated by NSDL FPI portal.
A continuing requirement follows: at all times the DDP and the Custodian of the FPI shall be the same entity.
2.The Common Application Form (CAF) enables an FPI applicant to apply for:
- a)Registration with SEBI only
- b)Registration with SEBI, allotment of PAN, and KYC for opening bank and demat accounts
- c)A trading membership on a stock exchange
- d)RBI approval for repatriation of funds
Show the answer
Answer: (b) Registration with SEBI, allotment of PAN, and KYC for opening bank and demat accounts
SEBI has introduced Common Application Form (CAF) which enables FPI applicants to apply for the purpose of (a) registration of FPIs with SEBI (b) allotment of PAN and (c) carrying out of KYC for opening of Bank & Demat Account.
Three separate approvals through one filing — a securities registration, a tax number and the accounts needed to operate.
Where it is filed: NSDL developed the CAF on NSDL FPI Portal viz., FPI Monitor (www.fpi.nsdl.co.in) to be filled by the applicant in an electronic manner. The NSDL FPI portal enables applicants to fill and submit the CAF in an electronic manner to its DDP.
What follows: post due diligence, DDP grants registration to FPI on the NSDL FPI portal. Upon registration, FPI Registration certificate is generated by NSDL FPI portal.
And the PAN comes through the same channel: NSDL has integrated the FPI portal with Income Tax Department (ITD) through Protean eGov Technologies Limited for allotment of PAN for the FPI.
The formal requirement behind it: an application for the grant of certificate as foreign portfolio investor shall be made to the designated depository participant in SEBI prescribed forms and shall be accompanied by the fee as specified in the regulations.
And the reason none of this can be skipped: no person shall buy, sell or otherwise deal in securities as a foreign portfolio investor unless it has obtained a certificate granted by the designated depository participant on behalf of the Board.
Where this is taught
Free preparation for NISM Series VIRelated terms
- Category-I FPIThe first of the two classes of Foreign Portfolio Investor under SEBI's 2019 FPI Regulations: governments and related investors, pension and university funds, and appropriately regulated entities and funds.
- Designated Depository ParticipantA SEBI-approved custodian and DP, also an AD Category-1 bank, that registers Foreign Portfolio Investors on SEBI's behalf after due diligence - and must be the same entity as the FPI's custodian.
- Common Application FormThe single electronic form on NSDL's FPI Monitor portal covering FPI registration with SEBI, PAN allotment and KYC for opening a bank and demat account, replacing three separate applications.