NRI Share Recovery and IEPF Claims from Hong Kong
Hong Kong’s Indian community spans families settled here for generations and professionals on shorter postings. Both hold Indian shares that are hard to act on from a distance.
We do that work: tracing holdings, liaising with the Indian registrar, filing IEPF claims and handling transmission after a death. The first assessment is free.
Claims from Hong Kong, handled from our Gurugram office · Reviewed 21 September 2026
A trading city with long Indian financial ties
Hong Kong’s older Indian trading families have held Indian securities for decades, frequently in physical form and in the names of relatives who have since died. Newer arrivals tend to hold their own shares and demat accounts, left behind when they moved for work.
The recurring problem is liaison. Indian registrars work to Indian hours, correspond by post, and return requests over small mismatches. Chasing that from Hong Kong is what most people give up on, not the entitlement itself.
Apostilles in Hong Kong come from the High Court
The Apostille Convention applies in Hong Kong, and has done since well before mainland China joined in 2023. The competent authority is unusual: apostilles are issued by the Registrar or a Deputy Registrar of the High Court of the Hong Kong SAR, not by a government ministry.
So the sequence is: sign your affidavit or indemnity before a Hong Kong notary public or Commissioner for Oaths, then take it to the High Court for the apostille. The Judiciary launched an e-Apostille service in September 2025 alongside the paper one. No Indian consular attestation is required on top.
What you will need
- Affidavit-cum-NOC and indemnity bond, signed before a Hong Kong notary and apostilled by the High Court
- Passport, HKID, OCI card if you hold one, and PAN
- Proof of Hong Kong address for KYC
- An Indian demat account, usually NRO-linked, opened before the claim is filed
Where the shares land, and moving money out
Recovered shares are credited to an Indian demat account. Holdings you inherited, or bought while you were resident in India, are generally held on a non-repatriable basis through an NRO-linked account; your bank confirms what applies to your status.
From NRO balances, NRIs may remit up to USD 1 million per financial year, with Form 15CA and a chartered accountant’s certificate in Form 15CB. Build that timeline in if the family is planning to distribute proceeds.
What we handle
Questions from Hong Kong
Who issues apostilles in Hong Kong?
The High Court of the Hong Kong SAR, through its Registrar or a Deputy Registrar — not a ministry. Documents are notarised first by a Hong Kong notary public or Commissioner for Oaths.
Did China joining the Convention in 2023 change anything for Hong Kong?
Not for Hong Kong itself: the Convention already applied here. It changed things for the mainland, where apostilles have been available since 7 November 2023.
Can you deal with the Indian registrar on our behalf?
That is most of what we do — correspondence, objection memos, follow-up and escalation to the company or SEBI’s SCORES portal where a request stalls.
Our family shares are in a relative’s name who died in India.
Then it is transmission. Under SEBI's July 2026 framework, holdings within ₹10 lakh per company (physical) or ₹30 lakh (demat) need only an indemnity bond and the other heirs’ affidavit-cum-NOC.
What do you charge?
An agreed percentage of the recovered value, charged after the shares are credited. No advance professional fee, and the first assessment is free.