AML on WebNotes

Clients of Special Category (CSC)

Sat, 20 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Clients of Special Category (CSC) is a higher-risk client classification under India’s anti-money-laundering framework, defined in the SEBI Master Circular on AML/CFT obligations of securities market intermediaries dated 6 June 2024, that obliges a broker such as Zerodha to run enhanced due diligence on the client, the practical trigger being a mandatory income-proof and source-of-funds check at account opening or re-KYC . The classification flows from the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 and the Prevention of Money-Laundering (Maintenance of Records) Rules, 2005, which require every regulated intermediary to grade clients by money-laundering risk and apply heavier scrutiny to the riskier ones.

FATF lists and your Zerodha account

Sat, 20 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The FATF lists are the two registers of high-risk countries maintained by the Financial Action Task Force, the inter-governmental body that sets the global standards for anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorist-financing, and they decide whether a non-resident or foreign national can open or hold a Zerodha account: a resident of a country on the FATF black list cannot open an account, and a resident of a country on the FATF grey list can open one only after Zerodha’s compliance team approves it. India is a FATF member and gives the lists legal force through the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 , the PML Rules 2005, and the SEBI Master Circular on AML/CFT obligations dated 6 June 2024.

How to respond when Zerodha emails asking you to re-submit documents

Sat, 20 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

When Zerodha emails asking you to re-submit documents, verify the email’s sender domain first, then submit the requested documents through a support ticket at support.zerodha.com within 30 days; once valid documents are submitted the account is unblocked within 48 working hours, and if you miss the 30-day window the account is blocked until you do submit. The request is legitimate where it comes from a Zerodha domain and routes you to a ticket; it is a phishing attempt where it comes from a lookalike domain or asks for your password, OTP or a payment.

Zerodha policies and procedures: the mandatory broker policy

Sat, 20 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Zerodha’s policies and procedures is the SEBI-mandated broker policy document, published at zerodha.com/policies-and-procedures/, that sets out the operating rules between Zerodha and its clients: the risk management system, charges and penalties, margin and pledge rules, penny-stock and illiquid-security restrictions, account closure and inactivity, business-continuity arrangements, and the anti-money-laundering policy. Every SEBI-registered stock broker must publish such a document and have clients acknowledge it at account opening, which makes it the binding rulebook behind the day-to-day operation of the account.

Know Your Distributor (KYD)

Tue, 12 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Know Your Distributor (KYD) is a mandatory identity and integrity verification process that must be completed by all individuals and entities holding or applying for an AMFI Registration Number (ARN) in India. Administered by the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) , KYD verifies the distributor’s identity, address, qualifications, and NISM certification status and creates a compliance record that is a precondition for commission payments from asset management companies (AMCs). An ARN holder who has not completed KYD, or whose KYD compliance has lapsed, is ineligible to receive commissions until compliance is restored.