A Registrar and Transfer Agent is the Issuer’s agent. Issuer is the Company who opts for dematerialization. It acts as an intermediary between the issuer and the depository for facilitating the services like Dematerialisation, Rematerialisation, Initial Public Offers and Corporate Actions.
In order for Companies to be able to issue securities or shares in dematerialized form, they must appoint a SEBI approved Registrar and Share Transfer Agent which has direct/online access to depositories. The Registrar Transfer Agent acts as a direct point of contact between the security Issuer and depositories, and manages the transactions of users with the depositories.
By the changes in the statutes, the government has mandated the appointment of RTA for Listed as well as Public Companies. Private Companies are also going to fall in its ambit pretty soon. Registrar and Transfer Agent’s are necessary to carry on any type of corporate actions including Right Issue, Bonus Issue, Preferential Allotment, Transfer of shares, ESOP etc.