SEBI makes PAN mandatory for all IPO investors

Sebi has amended its DIP guidelines that deal with public issues. Earlier, retail investors who invested up to Rs 50,000 did not need a permanent account number (PAN). That has changed now, with all investors irrespective of application size required to quote their PAN. The move will have no major impact, since most investors would have a PAN. The move does not come as a surprise, as all mutual fund investors too have to quote PAN, from July 2, 2007 in all transactions. This closes what small gaps are there in terms of information about investors. How useful this information is, will of course depend on the accuracy of the database, as past incidents have shown PAN data to be inaccurate. Still, some progress.