ABOUT 1.25 crore registrations have taken place under the new KYC (know your client) registration agency (KRA) authorised by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to process KYC verifications for new investors, a top Sebi official said on Tuesday.

Three KRAs approved by Sebi have already uploaded records of approximately 1.25 crore investors, Sebi wholetime member Rajeev Kumar Agarwal, said, speaking at the launch of KYC services for mutual fund investors by Computer Age Management Services (CAMS).

Sebi chairman UK Sinha gave KRA license to Chennai-based CAMS' wholly-owned subsidiary CAMSKRA.

CAMSKRA will handle KYC services for mutual fund investors.

Providing the break up of 1.25 crore investors, KYC details uploaded by three approved KRAs, Agarwal said, CDSL Ventures uploaded registrations for 92 lakh plus investors), NSDL Database Management 22 lakh plus registrations and NSE's KRA DotEx 5.47 lakh registrations.

KRA is a Sebi initiative aimed at eliminating duplication of KYC efforts that an investor has to undergo while dealing with multiple intermediaries like brokers, mutual funds, portfolio management services (PMS), private equity funds and depository participants.

With KRA, single KYC across Sebi-regulated entities is a reality now.

Speaking on the occasion, Sebi chairman said, I hope that we will be able to double the number or make it four times in near future.

While working on KRA regulations it was discussed that we will not allow any monopoly. We took conscious decisions that we will have multiple agency and we also ensured that all agencies should be interoperable. KYC requirements to be a major deterrent in people's mind while entering in the market.

As per the latest KYC regulations of Sebi, KYC for mutual fund investors includes completion of inperson verification (IPV).

Investors can walk into any CAMS service centres to complete the KYC process including IPV along with their transactions forms.

Distributors can also submit mutual fund transactions along with KYC forms.