Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has proposed introducing a single window access for low-risk foreign investors seeking to participate in the Indian securities market, a move aimed at simplifying compliance and enhancing the country's attractiveness as an investment destination. It noted that the new framework -- Single Window Automatic & Generalised Access for Trusted Foreign Investors (SWAGAT-FI), if implemented, would provide easier investment access to low risk foreign investors, enable a unified registration process across multiple investment routes and reduce repeated compliance and documentation for such entities, Sebi said in its consultation paper. The low-risk foreign investors identified by Sebi include government-owned funds, central banks, sovereign wealth funds, multilateral entities, highly regulated public retail funds, and appropriately regulated insurance companies, as well as pension funds.
SWAGAT-FI framework aims to offer a unified, streamlined and consistent access mechanism for certain categories of foreign investors that are verified to have met specified eligibility criteria. This framework will help reduce regulatory complexity, simplify compliance, and enhance India's attractiveness as an investment destination. SEBI has proposed to grant an option to SWAGAT-FIs applying for registration/ already registered as FPIs to also register as FVCI (Foreign venture Capital Investor), without the need for any further documentation