Per disclosures made by IFSCA, while groww and Upstox have secured the GAP licence (Global Access Provider) licence, Zerodha and Angel One have become broker-dealers. These four are among the leading brokers in the country and now all of them are ready to offer investment in international stocks to Indian retail traders.
Zerodha and Groww got the approval on June 2, while Angel One got the nod on June 12.
A GAP licence holder directly plugs into a US broker for settlements, while those licensed as brokers work with GAPs to offer settlement services through American brokers.
With this, Groww and Upstox have joined the club of startups like Vested Finance, IndMoney, etc.,who already operate as GAPs, offering international stock trading to Indian investors. RBI rules permit Indian citizens to channel $250,000 every year outside the country via the LRS (Liberalised Remittance Scheme) route, which can then be invested in stocks, among other things.
ET reported on June 15 that trading in US stocks went up about 20% on Friday, mainly driven by the global enthusiasm around SpaceX’s public listing.
RBI (Reserve Bank of India) data shows that Indians invested around $440 million in global equities in March, up 43% from $306 million a year back.
Nithin Kamath, chief executive officer, Zerodha, had said last October that the company was enabling US stock investing on its platform and had applied for the requisite licences for the same.
Action is picking up in Gift City as more and more fintechs are vying for licences in that jurisdiction to expand into cross-border flows to and from India.
ET reported on May 5 that the Gift City route was being explored by payment firms who want to set up wallet services in the international finance centre, through which they can facilitate cross-border fund flows.
