The norms surrounding foreign portfolio investors have undergone
continuous changes and tweaks since liberalisation. The framework
introduced by Central Government was first consolidated and
expanded upon by the Securities and Exchange Board of India
(SEBI) under the SEBI (Foreign Institutional
Investors) Regulations, 1995 (1995
Regulations).
A little under a decade later, in 2014, SEBI took steps to
consolidate the categories of investors previously accessing Indian
capital markets – i.e., foreign institutional investors,
sub-accounts and qualified foreign investors – into a single
class known as 'foreign portfolio investors'
(FPIs). SEBI also delegated the responsibility of
registering such FPIs to designated depository participants
(DDPs). Multiple questions arising out of the new
regime were subsequently answered by SEBI in a series of frequently
asked questions (FAQs), updated from time to time.
The 2014 Regulations also incorporated concepts such as
