The company was incorporated at Mumbai on December 12, 1997 as ‘Central Depository Services (India)’ (CDSL), a public limited company under the Companies Act, 1956. The company obtained its certificate of commencement of business from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs on December 19, 1997. The company was initially registered by way of a certificate of registration on August 19, 1998 by SEW under the Depositories Regulations and subsequently obtained its certificate of commencement of business as a depository under the Depositories Regulations on February 8, 1999.

The company is the leading securities depository in India by incremental growth of Beneficial Owner (BO) accounts over the last three fiscals and by the total number of registered Depository Participants (DPs). However, in terms of market share, it is the second largest depository in India. Its revenue from operations includes transaction charges, account maintenance charges and settlement charges paid by DPs and annual fees, corporate action charges and e-voting charges paid by companies whose securities are admitted to its systems.

The company commenced its depository business in 1999 with the objective of providing convenient, dependable and secure depository services at affordable cost to all market participants. It was initially promoted by the BSE which subsequently divested a part of its stake to leading Indian banks. It has connectivity with clearing corporations of all the leading Indian stock exchanges including the BSE, National Stock Exchange (NSE) and Metropolitan Stock Exchange of India.

Business area of the company

CDSL operates as a securities depository in India. It offers various services, such as account opening, dematerialization, processing delivery and receipt instructions, account statement, re-materialization, pledging, nomination, transmission of securities, change in address, bank account details and SMS services for depository participants.

Major events and milestones

• 1999: The Union Finance Minister of India, Yashwant Sinha flagged off the operations of the company.
• 1999: The first settlement of trades in demat mode through BOI Shareholding Limited, the clearing house of BSE, began.
• 2002: The company launched its internet facility ‘easi’ (electronic access to securities information).
• 2002: Online inter-depository transfer commenced. This facility enables on-line transfer of securities between both the depositories any time during the specified business hours.
• 2004: The company launched its internet facility ‘easiest’ (electronic access to securities information & execution of secured transaction).
• 2005: Number of active demat accounts with the company crossed 1 million.
• 2005: The number of companies admitted with the company for demat crossed 0.005 million.
• 2006: The company was awarded the BS7799 certification from Det Norske Veritas (Rotterdam).
• 2006: CDSL Ventures, a wholly owned subsidiary of the company was incorporated.
• 2006: The company was awarded the ISO 27001 from Det Norske Veritas (Rotterdam).
• 2006: CDSL Ventures, a wholly owned subsidiary of the company began ‘Customer profiling and Record Keeping’ of the KYC of investors for mutual funds.
• 2007: The company signed an MoU with the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation of New York (DTCC), designed to build a closer working relationship and exchange of information.
• 2007: The company signed an MoU with the Korea Securities Depository (KSD), aimed at promoting development of financial services industries in India and Korea.
• 2007: The company launched its SMS Alert facility, called ‘SMART’ (SMS Alerts Related to Transactions).
• 2008: Number of active demat accounts with the company touched 4.5 million.
• 2008: The company signed an MoU with Japan Securities Depository Center, Inc. (JASDEC) of Tokyo, designed to build a cooperative relationship.
• 2008: The company signed an MoU with National Depository Center (NDC) to bolster economic relations between India and Russia by encouraging cooperation through the mutual exchange of experience.
• 2008: The company signed an MoU with Taiwan Depository & Clearing Corporation (TDCC), aimed at mutual benefits and further development in the financial market by cooperation in operations and operation linkages, exchange of personnel and new developments.
• 2008: The company signed an MoU with Euroclear SA/NV designed to promote cross-border investment and explore the possibility of establishing an operational link between the company and Euroclear SA/NV.
• 2009: Honourable Minister for Corporate Affairs of India, Mr. Salman Khurshid launched the company’s e-voting platform.
• 2009: The company and Bursa Malaysia Depository Sdn. Bhd. (Bursa Malaysia Depository) signed an MoU to pursue cooperative relationship and opportunities in the areas of securities clearing and depository.
• 2010: The company signed an agreement with Nepal Stock Exchange Limited (NEPSE) to set-up a depository and clearing and settlement system in Nepal and to provide technical assistance and consultancy services to NEPSE.
• 2010: The company introduced the National Academic Depository with a view to obviate the issues associated with the issue of academic mark sheets, degrees and convocation certificates in paper form.
• 2012: U. K. Sinha, SEBI Chairman launched CDSL Ventures KRA, India’s first and largest KYC Registration agency.
• 2013: Transaction Using SMS Texting (TRUST), the acronym for the company’s mobile based utility, ‘Transaction Using Secured Texting’ was formally launched.
• 2015: The number of active demat accounts opened with the company crossed 10 million.
• 2017: CDSL Commodity Repository Limited, its wholly owned Subsidiary was incorporated.
• 2017: The company signed an MoU with Central Depository Systems (Pvt) Limited, Sri Lanka to pursue cooperative relationship and opportunities in the areas of securities clearing and depository.

Certifications, awards and accreditations

• 2014: IDC Insights Award” by International Data Corporation, in the CIO category.
• 2014: EMC Transformers Award” by Dell EMC, in the best use of IT to transform business category.
• 2015: “IDC Insights Award” by International Data Corporation, in the CIO category.
• 2015: “IDG’s CIO100 Award” by International Data Group, in CIO category for enterprise IT excellence.
• 2015: “IDG’s Security Supremo Special Award” by International Data Group, in the security, risk, governance and compliance category.
• 2015: “Innovative CIO Awards” by BitStream Mediaworks Private Limited, in the CIO category.
• 2015: “Dataquest Business Technology Award” by Cyber Media, in the data center/networking category.
• 2015: “Dataquest Business Technology Award” by Cyber Media, in the enterprise security category.
• 2015: “Dataquest Business Technology Award” by Cyber Media, in the enterprise application category.
• 2015: “Dataquest Business Technology Award” by Cyber Media, in the “storage/BCP/DR” category.
• 2015: “EMC Transformers Award” by Dell EMC, in the best use of IT to transform business category.
• 2015: “Info Sec Maestros Award” by BitStream Mediaworks Private Limited, for information security.
• 2015: “Net App Innovation Award” by NetApp, Inc. for enterprise mobility.
• 2016: “BFSI Tech Maestros Awards” by BitStream Mediaworks Private Limited, for IT leadership.
• 2016: “Dell EMC Transformers Awards” by Dell EMC, for security transformation.
• 2016: “Exito BFSI IT Leadership Award” by Exito, for IT leadership.
• 2016: “IDG’s Intelligent Enterprise Champions Award” by International Data Group, for infrastructure.
• 2016: “Innovative CIO Awards” by BitStream Mediaworks Private Limited, in the CIO category.
• 2016: “Express Security Strategist Award” by the Indian Express Group, for information security.
• 2017: “FinTec India Award” awarded at FinTec Conference and Awards, for IT security projects and IT projects.
• 2017: “Info Sec Maestros Award” by BitStream Mediaworks Private Limited, in the Information Security category.