RTA Corporate

Overview

Series II-A is for staff at Registrars and Transfer Agents (RTAs) servicing corporate securities — equity, preference shares, debentures. RTAs handle the issuer-side workflow that demat doesn’t cover: corporate actions, IPO allotments, complaint resolution, LODR compliance.

At a glance: 100 questions · 2 hours · 50% pass mark · 0.25 negative marking · ₹1,500 + GST.

Who should take II-A

• RTA staff (Karvy, Link Intime, Computer Age, KFin Technologies, etc.)
• Compliance officers at issuers managing investor servicing
• Operations teams at corporates handling shareholder requests

Key Knowledge Areas

Corporate actions

Major corporate actions an RTA processes:

• Bonus issue / split / consolidation — credit/debit demat accounts on record date
• Rights issue — manage subscription, allotment, refunds
• Dividends — compute payable amounts based on record-date register
• Mergers / demergers — exchange securities per scheme of arrangement
• Buyback — accept tender forms, process offer

Public offerings (IPO)

The RTA receives share applications, validates KYC and bid integrity, generates the basis of allotment, manages refunds, and credits successful allotments to demat accounts.

ASBA (Application Supported by Blocked Amount) means the RTA works with banks to release/release-block bid amounts. UPI ASBA is now the dominant retail mode.

SEBI LODR Regulations 2015

Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements — issuer compliance regime:

• Quarterly results — financial disclosures within 45 days
• Material events — disclose under Reg 30 immediately
• Shareholding pattern — quarterly upload to exchanges
• Annual report — within 6 months of FY end

Investor grievance

RTAs are the first stop for shareholder complaints. SEBI’s SCORES portal tracks resolution timelines. Unresolved complaints escalate to SEBI.

Key Fact: SEBI requires every RTA to have a designated Compliance Officer, often holding NISM Series II-A.

Share transmission & duplicate certificates

For physical certificates (rare now): transmission on death, duplicate issue on loss / damage, transfer between names. RTAs verify documentation and update issuer’s register of members.

Exam Tips

Tip 1: Corporate actions are 15+ marks. Know the workflow for bonus, rights, dividend, buyback, and merger by heart.

Tip 2: IPO process via ASBA / UPI is heavily tested — including timelines (T+3 listing currently, moving to T+0).

Tip 3: LODR compliance specifics — Regs 17 (board composition), 18 (audit committee), 30 (disclosures), 33 (financial results) — appear regularly.

Tip 4: Transmission requires a specific document set (death cert, succession cert / will, KYC). Memorise it.

Try the Free Quiz

Test your knowledge with our free Series II-A practice quiz — or get the full bank of 220+ II-A questions plus mock tests in the NISM Exam Prep app.