Distributor Corner

AMFI REGISTERED MUTUAL FUND DISTRIBUTORS

Intermediaries play a pivotal and valuable role in promoting sale of Mutual Funds. It is therefore vital that those engaged in selling Mutual Funds have the highest standards of knowledge attitude and ethics. Their well being, quality orientation and ways of doing business will have a significant impact on how the Mutual Fund Industry develops in the future.

AMFI introduced the process to register the intermediaries who have passed the certification test as AMFI Registered Mutual Fund Advisors (ARMFA), thus laying the foundation for an organized industry and allotting a unique code-AMFI Registration Number (ARN)along with an identity card. SEBI recognizing the importance of this initiative taken by AMFI had made Registration with AMFI after passing AMFI Certification Test compulsory for intermediaries. SEBI has clarified that after obtaining certification from NISM as per changed mandate (w.e.f. June 01, 2010), the requirement of registration with AMFI, in terms of its circular dated November 28, 2002 would continue.

As such, all NISM Certified Intermediaries engaged in marketing and selling of Mutual Fund schemes are required to be registered with AMFI after passing NISM Certification Test. Minimum age for obtaining ARN is 18 years. The Mutual Funds will not be able to deal with intermediaries who are not registered with AMFI and obtained ARN.

In terms of SEBI Circular dated September 13, 2012, "AMFI shall create a unique identity number of the employee/ relationship manager/ sales person of the distributor interacting with the investor for the sale of mutual fund products, in addition to the AMFI Registration Number (ARN) of the distributor.The application form for mutual fund schemes shall have provision for disclosing the unique identity number of such sales personnel along with the ARN of the distributor."

AMFI Registration Number (ARN) : SALIENT FEATURES

 

The AMFI Registration Number (ARN) has been introduced as the unique code, which identifies the intermediary as ARMFA.

• o Minimum age for obtaining ARN is 18 years.
• o ARN is a unique number allotted to:
•    o   Individual agents, brokers, and other intermediaries engaged in selling Mutual Funds, having
•            passed the NISM Certification Test and   senior citizens having attended Continuing
•            Professional Education (CPE) and agreeing to abide by the code of conduct and other 
•            undertakings as mentioned in the application form.
•        o  Corporates engaged in the business of selling Mutual Funds, which apply to AMFI and
•            agree to abide by the code of conduct and other undertakings as mentioned in the
•            application form. 
• o  A photo identity card bearing unique ARN, address, his/ her name, photo and the validity period of
•     ARN, would be issued to individual applicants and senior citizens whereas Letter of Registration
•     bearing unique ARN, name of the corporate and the validity period of ARN would be issued
•     to Corporate applicants.
• o  Employees would be issued EUIN card with their EUIN, his/ her name, photo and validity period of
•     EUIN.
• o  The application for registration of corporate bodies should compulsorily be accompanied by the
•     application for registration of corporate employee.

• o   Passing certificate issued by National Institute of Securities Market (NISM) in respect of
•     'NISM - Series V-A : Mutual Fund Distribution Examination' has validity period of three years. 
•      Also, the CPE certificate issued by NISM is valid for three years.
•      Accordingly, ARN issued to individual, senior citizens and EUIN issued to employees against
•      such certificates shall have validity period from the date of submission of ARN registration
•      application up to the validity date mentioned on the passing certificate/ CPE certificate, if the
•      application is in order.
•      In case of corporate entities, validity period for Letter of Registration issued is 3 years.
• o   No distributor shall hold more than one ARN card/ Letter of Registration
• o   After obtaining ARN, the intermediaries should approach the AMCs for empanelment and they
•      can canvass Mutual Fund business of the respective AMCs only after empanelling with them.

• o   Registered intermediaries can be de-registered as the ultimate censure, for the following reasons:
•      o    Violation of the code of conduct.
•      o    Being indicted for serious offences by a Regulatory Authority/ Judicial Authority.
•      o    Complaints of gross negligence upheld by a consumer court.

 AMFI Guidelines & Norms for Intermediaries ("AGNI")

In order to promote best practices and ethical standards in the business of sale of Mutual Fund schemes, AMFI has formulated broad guidelines and norms including a code of conduct for the intermediaries, which will be applicable to ARMFA.

AMFI believes that a sincere endeavor to adhere to the guidelines and the code would help promote best and healthy practices in the area of sales and marketing which would ultimately benefit all concerned - the investor, the intermediary and the industry as a whole.

EMPLOYEES OF ARMFA

 

In terms above mentioned notification and SEBI circulars, employees/ relationship manager/ sales person of ARN holders who are engaged in marketing of Mutual Funds Products, are also required to pass test and register with AMFI, under ARN of the employer.

AMFI, has allotted Employee Unique Identity Number (EUIN) to all the employees, who are registered with AMFI and having valid registration. A photo identity card bearing EUIN is also being issued to the existing corporate employees after they surrender existing corporate employee ARN card issued to them.

The employees would be henceforth issued EUIN card containing EUIN, name, photo and validity period of EUIN.

The said EUIN is required to be mentioned on the Mutual Fund scheme application forms with effect from January 1, 2013.

EUIN issued to the employees would remain same, even if they change their employment and join some other ARN holder for selling/ marketing Mutual Fund products. However, for effecting such change in AMFI's records, the employees are required to submit duly filled in form for mapping EUIN as stated here under.

The employees are required to fill up the form for mapping EUIN in the following scenarios and submit the duly filled in and signed form to CAMS along with required documents.

1. To dissociate from present ARN mapping for doing own business.
2. To change the EUIN mapping from present ARN to another ARN (in case of change of employment)
3. To cancel EUIN.

PROCEDURE FOR OBTAINING REGISTRATION

 

AMFI has authorized M/s Computer Age Management Services Pvt. Ltd. (CAMS) to act as processing agent on its behalf for the purpose of ARN.

For registering with AMFI, Intermediaries are required to apply in the prescribed form. The form can be obtained from the office of AMFI or any office of CAMS. Alternatively, the form can also be downloaded from AMFI's website www.amfiindia.com. 

You can also register online, from the comfort of your office/ home by visiting the Online Registration page here.

Application forms must be submitted along with KYD acknowledgement or along with KYD application form in person, in case KYD process is not completed, to the office of CAMS (CAMS-POS).

Documents & Fees : For the details of fees and documents required to be submitted by various categories of intermediaries for obtaining ARN and by employees for obtaining EUIN, please click here

The documents shall be scrutinized and if found in order and if the prescribed fees have been realized, a Letter of Registration or photo identity card, as may be applicable shall be issued. These will be mailed directly to the applicant.

Fees payable for issuing duplicate ARN Card/ Letter of Registration

Fees payable for obtaining duplicate ARN card due to change of name, address, ARN card lost, etc. in case of individuals/senior citizens is ₹ 1000/- plus 18% GST i.e. ₹1180/-

Fees payable for obtaining duplicate EUIN card due to change of name/ EUIN card lost, etc. in case of corporate employees is ₹ 1000/- plus 18% GST i.e. ₹1180/-.

Fees payable for issue of duplicate Letter of Registration in case corporates is ₹ 5000/- plus 18% GST i.e. ₹5,900/-.

Fees payable for issue of Letter of Registration to Corporates (existing ARN Holders) due to change in name/ change of status 

            §Change in name without change in status : ₹ 10,000/- plus 18% GST i.e. ₹11,800/-.

            §Change in name due to change in status : the fees payable would be higher of

§   ₹ 10,000/- plus 18% GST i.e. ₹11,800/- and 

§   the differential fee along with 18% GST thereon, if the change in status is from a category charged with lower registration fee to a category charged with higher registration fee.

Click here to get the list of CAMS-POS

Download the registration form for:

• Corporate
• Employee
• Individual / Senior Citizens
• New Cadre of Distributors

Renewal of AMFI Registration Number (ARN)/ Employee Unique Identification Number (EUIN)

Renewal of AMFI Registration Number (ARN)/ Employee Unique Identification Number (EUIN)

 

ARN holders/ EUIN holders are required to apply for renewal of ARN/ EUIN on or six months prior to expiry of validity period of ARN/ EUIN. If the renewal application is submitted prior to expiry of validity period of ARN/ EUIN and the same is found in order, there would be continuity in the validity period of ARN/ EUIN, post renewal.

If the renewal application is submitted after expiry of ARN/ EUIN, validity of renewed ARN/ EUIN would commence from the date of submission of renewal application and would be valid up to the validity date mentioned on the NISM passing certificate/ CPE Certificate, in case of individual/ senior citizens/ employees. In case of Corporate ARN holders, Letter of Registration shall be renewed for a period of three years from the date of submission of ARN renewal application.

The procedure for renewal of ARN / Letter of Registration is as under :

 ARN holders are required to make an application in the prescribed form. Download the ARN renewal form for

• 1. Individual/ Employee/ New Cadre of Distributors
  2. Corporate
• You can also renew online, from the comfort of your office/home by visiting the Online Registration/Renewal page here

• Fees for renewal of ARN/ EUIN : For the details of fees required to be submitted by various categories of intermediaries for renewal of ARN and by employees for renewal of EUIN, please click here

• ARN holders must comply with KYD requirements. For further information on KYD please, click here.  To get the list of CAMS POS, please click here.
• Applications along with demand draft for the appropriate fee amount and the required documents should be submitted at CAMS POS.
• Demand Draft should be drawn in favor of 'ASSOCIATION OF MUTUAL FUNDS IN INDIA' payable at the location of CAMS-POS where application is submitted.
• In case of Individuals and employees, the renewal of ARN/ EUIN is subject to either passing the NISM Mutual Fund Distributors Certification Examination or attending the programme of 'Continuing Professional Education' (CPE), offered by NISM. Senior citizens are required to attend CPE.
• They (Individuals, senior citizens and employees) are required to submit the application for renewal of ARN/ EUIN along with a copy of passing certificate of NISM Mutual Fund Distributors Certification Examination/ CPE Certificate and two stamp size color photographs.

FOR NISM-MFD CPE COURSE :

The following CPE Providers are empanelled with NISM to conduct the Continuing Professional Education program for Mutual Fund Distributors :

S.No	Name of CPE Provider	E-mail Id	Contact Details
1	Centre for Investor Education & Learning Pvt. Ltd. (CIEL)	cpe@ciel.co.in	022-42170575 9552551360
2	Financial Technologies Knowledge Management Co. Ltd. (FTKMC)	cpe@ftkmc.com	022 - 67318840  022 - 67318908
3	National Institute of Securities Markets (NISM)	cpe@nism.ac.in	022 – 66735100-05
4	National Securities Depository Ltd. (NSDL)	cpe@nsdl.co.in	022 - 24994487, 022 - 24994479, 022 - 24994481
5	National Stock Exchange (NSE)	cpe@nse.co.in	022 – 26598216

For certificate queries, please contact ::
Tel: 022-6111 5555
Email: cpe@nism.ac.in

For further information on NISM Certification Test as well as CPE, one may contact :

National Institute of Securities Markets
6th Floor, NISM Bhavan
Plot No 82, Sector 17
Vashi, Navi Mumbai 400 703
Ph: 022-6673 5100 - 05
www.nism.ac.in