Depository participant is the representative of the Depositor. Depository participant acts as intermediary between investors and depositories. An investor has no direct access to the Depositaries. The investor has to trade his securities/share through the Depository Participant. The depository participant has an identity number for identification. It has to maintain accounts of securities of each investor. Depository Participant gives intimation about holdings from time to time by sending a statement of holding or giving a pass-book. If investor desires the services of Depository, he has to open an account with Depository through a Depository Participant. At present in India, there are two depositories. They are
· National Securities Depositories Limited (NSDL)
· Central Depositories Services Limited (CDSL)
According to SEBI guidelines financial institutions, banks, stock brokers can be registered as Depository Participant.
