All you need to know about BASL Membership

All you need to know about BSE Administration and Supervision Limited (BASL) Membership

BSE Administration and Supervision Limited (BASL), a wholly owned subsidiary of BSE Limited has been granted recognition as Investment Adviser and Supervisory Body (IAASB) in accordance to SEBI (Investment Advisers) Regulations, 2013. BASL will administer and supervise all existing SEBI Registered Investment Advisers (RIAs) and new applicants desirous of obtaining registration as Investment Adviser.

Below are the responsibilities that it shall undertake:

• Supervision of Investment Advisers (IAs) including both on-site and off-site;
• Grievance redressal of Clients and IAs;
• Administrative action including issuing warning and referring to SEBI for enforcement action;
• Monitoring activities of IAs by obtaining periodical reports;
• Submission of periodical reports to SEBI;
• Maintenance of database of IAs.

All the existing RIAs and new applicants are required to obtain the membership of BASL. The process of application for the membership is different for both the existing RIAs as well as new applicants. In order apply for membership one must register themselves with BASL portal.

Steps for registration with BASL:

Step 1: Login to the BASL portal- https://membership.bseasl.com/.

Step 2: Click on Register and fill in the details and proceed.

Step 3: Fill the details to register and complete the OTP verification.

Step 4: Re-login and complete the registration process. You will be required to provide the application type and entity type, basis on which the relevant screen will pop up. All the documents that are required to be uploaded should be self-attested.

Step 5: After the form is filled, you are required to submit the form. A message will be sent to your registered email ID and email address, confirming submission of the application along with the BASL Application No. / Case Id.

Upon BASL being satisfied with the filing, will issue a membership certificate to the RIAs.

Additional steps for new applicants:

Step 6: Upon BASL being satisfied with the filing, BASL will intimate the applicant via email to proceed with the filing of application with SEBI. The application should be submitted via SEBI SI Portal: https://siportal.sebi.gov.in.

Step 7: Once SEBI has approved the application, it will direct the applicant to make the payment of fees to BASL. Upon payment of fees to BASL, BASL will intimate SEBI of receipt of payment and issue the membership certificate.

Step 8: SEBI after receiving confirmation from BASL will issue certificate of registration to Investment Adviser.

Few important points:

1. All the RIAs are mandatorily required to obtain membership of BASL and the same shall be obtained on or before August 31, 2021.

2. New Applicants shall obtain the membership of BASL before applying for registration with SEBI as RIA.

3. All SEBI registered IAs shall submit periodic reports to BASL in such manner as may be specified by BASL.

4. The existing RIAs are currently not required to pay any membership fees to BASL, unless SEBI/ BASL specify payment of membership fees in a prescribed manner.

5. The tenure of BASL membership of such existing SEBI RIA will be as decided by BASL and need to be renewed by the investment adviser as per norms specified from time to time.

6. All the applicants whose applications are pending for approval will have to apply for membership with BASL, only then SEBI will approve the application.

7. The existing SEBI Registration certificate of RIAs will continue to be valid till its maturity date.

Renewal of SEBI Registration Certificate by RIAs:

1. The existing RIAs whose renewal applications are already submitted with SEBI shall approach BASL and submit its application for BASL membership certificate. The steps mentioned above are required to be followed for application of membership.

2. All the existing RIAs seeking renewal of their registration and intending to file the form shall first approach BASL for submitting their renewal application. Once the BASL has approved and intimated the RIA to proceed with renewal application, the RIA shall proceed with filing of renewal application with SEBI.

We can construe that RIAs will have to follow the entire process as new applicants in order to renew its certificate.

Renewal of BASL Membership:

The process for submission of renewal application to BASL should be carried out at least three months before the expiry of the validity period of the certificate of BASL membership and completed prior to expiry of the tenure to keep the membership in force.

Fee Structure of BASL

All the existing RIAs whose renewal is pending and the new applicants are required to pay an annual membership fee to BASL. The fees currently will be paid for 3 years block. The fee structure is as follows:

Upon payment of the annual membership fees vide NEFT, the BASL members are required to email the details of payment to BASL at bseasl.membership@bseasl.com. The subject of the email should clearly mention “BASL Membership FEES payment details (Trade Name of BASL member – BASL Membership ID)”.

The payment detail should be made in the below mentioned format:

In case of change in name/ registered office address / correspondence address/ shareholding pattern/ prior approval for change in control/ surrender of registration certificate / loss of certificate/ mutilation of certificate/ update detail, etc the RIA should first approach SEBI and comply with the requirements in that context. BASL will consider the aforesaid changes in its record only after it has been approved and taken on record by SEBI.

To conclude, all the existing RIAs and new applicants are required to comply with the provisions of SEBI (Investment Adviser) Regulations, 2013 (IA Regulations) and the Bye Laws of BASL and directions/ circular/ notices/ regulations/ guidelines, etc. issued by BASL or SEBI from time to time. The payment of fees for renewal and new applications will be made to SEBI in accordance to the IA Regulations as well as BASL in the manner prescribed by BASL.

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In case you have any specific query with regard to BASL registration or IA application with SEBI, you may write to me at anjalibansalcs@gmail.com.