The Reserve Bank of India has amended its know your customer directions for urban cooperative banks to allow foreign portfolio investors to use an alternative overseas certification process for customer documents. The facility, already available to nonresident Indians and persons of Indian origin, takes effect immediately and mirrors the extension made for rural cooperative banks. Rather than requiring the bank to compare a copy with the original document, a foreign portfolio investor may submit a certified copy attested by specified overseas parties. These include authorized officials of eligible overseas bank branches, notaries public, court magistrates, judges and Indian embassies or consulates general in the investor’s country of residence.