MUMBAI: Securities and Exchange Board of India has set the ball rolling for making Aadhar compulsory for stock trading. The capital market regulator has asked exchanges for their feedback on brokers’ preparedness to get their clients to submit Aadhar card details before December 31.ET had first reported on August 10 that Aadhaar would become mandatory for buying shares and mutual funds BSE, in a recent circular, asked brokers for their comments on the matter by August 23. The exchange said existing clients will have to submit the Aadhar card numbers to their brokers by December 31. New clients should submit the details within six months of starting the demat account.“In case of failure to submit the documents within the aforesaid time limit, the account shall cease to be operational till the time Aadhaar number is submitted by the client,” the circular said.The government and Sebi are making Aadhar compulsory as part of its Prevention of Money Laundering (PML) rules, which aims to curb illegitimate money. The capital markets regulator, in recent years, has cracked down on individuals and entities for using the stock exchange platform to convert illegal money into legal money.Currently, the income tax permanent account number (PAN) is considered the most important document for share transactions. But the government has realised that PAN, though unique for every individual for income tax assessment, may not be enough to plug money laundering through the stock market. Market participants said multiple PANs and fake demat accounts are being used to push illegal money into the stock market.The government recently mandated that Aadhaar be linked to PAN, bank accounts and mobile phone numbers. Brokers said they are gearing up for implementing Aadhaar but it would be a tedious task.“It adds to additional cost for brokers but they have no choice but to comply with it,” said Alok Churiwala, managing director at Churiwala Securities.“This is triplication of efforts as without demat, bank account and PAN, one cannot trade and these three are already mandated to be linked to Aadhaar.” For large retail broking firms like Angel, it would be a logistical nightmare.“The issue is that clients don't respond to SMSes, emails, etc. So, it takes a lot of effort to get this done,” Angel Broking chief executive Vinay Agrawal said.“Customers have already linked Aadhaar with PAN and bank account but due to privacy or confidentiality issues these agencies don’t share the details and we have to approach the customers. As brokers, we don’t have a choice but the regulator has given us enough time.”