Preservation of originals: exchanges must retain original electronic and physical records seized by enforcement agencies until trial concludes.
Stock exchanges must preserve originals of documents and electronic records, copies of which have been taken by enforcement agencies during investigations, in both electronic and physical form until the trial is completed; exchanges must amend bye-laws and Listing Agreement as applicable, notify members, publish the requirement on their websites, and report implementation status to SEBI.

Preservation of originals: depositories must retain original records taken by enforcement agencies until trial completion and update rules.
Depositories are advised to preserve the originals of documents, both electronic and physical, copies of which have been taken by CBI, Police or any other enforcement agency during the course of an investigation until the trial is completed. Depositories must amend relevant bye laws, notify Depository Participants, disseminate the requirement on their websites, and report implementation status to SEBI in the Monthly Development Report for January 2006.

Disclaimer clause requirement added to issue advertisements; regulatory observations do not constitute approval of the offer.
Amendment inserts a mandatory disclaimer clause into Part A, Part B and Part C of the issue advertisement schedule after the heading "proposed listing", specifying that the regulator's observations on offer documents do not constitute approval of the issue or the offer document; the amendment is effective immediately and the revised guidelines and wording are published on the regulator's website.

Dematerialisation transfer charges removed where Beneficiary Owner transfers all securities to identical account, enabling free inter-depository transfers.
SEBI requires that no charges be levied by a depository on DPs, nor by DPs on BOs, when a BO transfers all securities to another branch of the same DP, another DP of the same depository, or to another depository, provided the BO accounts at transferor and transferee are identical, including identical joint-account ownership sequence where applicable. Depositories must implement systems to distinguish such account-transfer transactions from normal debits and amend bye-laws, notify DPs, and report implementation status.

Mutual fund disclosure: prior unitholder notice and public advertisement required before first investment in ADRs/GDRs or foreign securities.
Where a scheme's offer document did not disclose investment in ADRs/GDRs/foreign securities, the asset management company must, prior to the first such investment, send a written communication to each unitholder and advertise in one English national daily plus a regional-language newspaper; the communication must disclose the risk factors of those investments. Schemes that have already disclosed such investment permission in the offer document are exempt, and all other conditions in earlier circulars remain unchanged.

Allocation to mutual funds within QIBs fixed; proportionate allotment and margin requirements updated for book-building issues.
Amendments require that a specified portion of the allocation available to qualified institutional buyers be reserved for mutual funds and that allotment across QIBs be made on a proportionate basis, with an illustrative schedule demonstrating allocation mechanics. The lead book runner may reject QIB bids only at bid acceptance with written reasons disclosed to bidders and in the offer document. Brokers/syndicate members must collect a margin at application stage for QIB bids. References to issue-size are replaced with allocations based on the net offer to public.

Depository connectivity: shift scrips from Trade-for-Trade to Rolling Segment upon dual depository linkage and report actions.
Where companies listed in Annexure A have established connectivity with both depositories on or before the cutoff, stock exchanges shall shift those scrips from the Trade-for-Trade segment to the Rolling Segment from the eligible date specified for each scrip, provided there are no other grounds to retain them in TFTS; exchanges must report the action taken in the Monthly Development Report (Section II, item no. 13) for October.

Mutual Fund parity in derivatives trading permitted with conditions, position limits and exchange monitoring required.
Mutual Funds may trade in exchange traded derivatives on par with registered FIIs, with schemes treated as client sub-accounts and Mutual Funds as trading members. New schemes must disclose extent, manner and risks of derivatives participation in offer documents; existing schemes require unit-holder disclosure, majority consent and an exit option without exit load. Prescribed position limits apply to index and stock derivatives, additional notional hedging limits are linked to fund holdings, and scheme-wise limits and disclosures follow the FII sub-account regime. Stock exchanges will monitor scheme-wise limits and assign unique client codes.

Electronic contract notes: consented, digitally signed delivery by email with backup physical dispatch if undelivered.
Members may issue Electronic Contract Notes only to clients who have specifically opted in; ECNs must be digitally signed, encrypted and non tamperable and delivered normally by email. Members must retain soft, non tamperable acknowledgements and system log reports as proof of delivery, record bounced or rejected mails, and treat non receipt of bounce notifications as delivery. If ECNs are undelivered or clients have not opted in, physical contract notes must be sent within prescribed timeframes. Members must also publish ECNs securely on designated websites with unique client access and archive electronic records per SEBI and exchange rules.

Custodial confirmation deadline extended to provide additional time, revising clearing corporation download and settlement timing in rolling settlement.
Extends the custodial confirmation deadline to 1.00 pm on the first post-trade day and requires clearing corporations/clearing houses to process and download obligation files to brokers and custodians by 2.30 pm the same day; pay-in and pay-out timings on the second settlement day are retained to align settlement operations with the discontinuance of hand-delivery bargains. Stock exchanges must amend bye-laws, notify members, publish the changes, and report implementation status.

Block deals window permits large single trades within price and timing limits and requires same-day disclosure.
SEBI permits a designated early-morning trading window for block deals-single large transactions meeting prescribed minimum quantity or value-subject to a limited open period from market open, a capped price band relative to ruling/previous close, mandatory delivery settlement with no squaring off, and same-day post-market public disclosure of trade details; exchanges must apply normal trading, settlement, surveillance and risk containment measures, amend rules, notify members and report implementation to SEBI.

Central counterparty settlement required for exchange trades, with narrow exceptions and custodial-rejection rules permitting DVP.
Discontinuation of Hand Delivery Bargains/DVP is mandated: all exchange trades must be settled through the Clearing Corporation/Clearing House as central counterparty, effective September 19, 2005. Narrow exceptions are permitted for total exchange/STP connectivity failures, pre-decided international holidays, and calamity-driven centre closures. Custodial rejection of institutional trades may allow DVP settlement without margin if documented; otherwise exchanges may impose margins and penalties. Exchanges must amend bye-laws, notify members, publish the circular, and report implementation to SEBI.

Unique Client Code disclosure allowed to unitholders to enable claiming STT linked tax benefits while other rules remain unchanged.
Permits mutual funds to disclose the Unique Client Code (UCC) of their schemes/plans to unitholders for the limited purpose of claiming tax benefits linked to payment of Securities Transaction Tax (STT), while all other provisions of the prior circular remain unchanged and the guidance is issued under regulatory powers to protect investor interests and regulate the securities market.

Preservation of original records: stock exchanges must retain originals seized by enforcement agencies until trial completion.
Mandate requiring recognised stock exchanges and their members to preserve originals of documents, in both electronic and physical form, where copies have been taken by enforcement agencies, until trial concludes, notwithstanding shorter retention periods under existing securities rules and broker regulations; exchanges must amend bye-laws and Listing Agreements, notify members, publish the requirement, and report implementation to the regulator.

Preservation of original records required when enforcement agencies obtain copies, with originals retained until trial completion.
Depositories and their participants must retain original documents in both electronic and physical form, where enforcement agencies have taken copies during investigations, until the related trial is completed; depositories must amend bye laws, notify DPs and publish the requirement, and report implementation status to the regulator.

Dual depository connectivity prompts shifting scrips from Trade-for-Trade to rolling trading absent other grounds by exchanges.
Companies that have established connectivity with both depositories should be shifted from the Trade for Trade Segment to the Rolling Segment unless there are other specific grounds for continuation in Trade for Trade; stock exchanges must review depository information, effect migration where appropriate, and report the action taken in the designated item of the monthly development report.

Unique Identification Number suspension halts new UIN registrations and quoting requirement pending regulatory review, affecting market intermediaries.
SEBI has suspended all fresh registrations for Unique Identification Numbers and the requirement to obtain or quote UIN under the MAPIN Regulations and related circulars pending finalisation of a Committee report, and has directed stock exchanges and depositories to notify their members and publish the circular on their websites; the action is taken under Section 11(1) of the SEBI Act for investor protection and market regulation.

Concentrated holding limit enforcement: breach triggers rebalancing, notice and automatic redemption if unremedied by mutual funds at applicable NAV.
The circular mandates portfolio level application of a concentration limit, with scheme average net assets computed daily and investor holdings averaged daily to detect breaches. Breaches are assessed over the quarter; a one month rebalancing period is permitted, followed by a 15 day notice to redeem excess exposure. If unredeemed, the mutual fund will effect automatic redemption at the applicable Net Asset Value on the 15th day.

Risk management framework implementation requires exchanges to implement controls before resuming trading and report compliance.
Exchanges must operationalize the comprehensive risk management framework by Monday, 30th May 2005 and shall not permit trading unless they can implement the revised framework; they must test and rectify software issues beforehand, notify member brokers/clearing members, publish the circular on their websites, and report implementation status in the May 2005 Monthly Development Report (Section II, item 13).

Amendment compliance extension: stock exchange subsidiaries permitted extra time to implement broker-sub broker regulations under SEBI framework
All brokers, including subsidiaries of recognized stock exchanges that are registered as stock brokers and their registered sub brokers, are required to comply with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Stock Brokers and Sub brokers) (Amendment) Regulations, 2003, including changes to sub broker roles and the Model Tripartite Agreement. SEBI allowed a deferred compliance date for those exchange subsidiaries to permit necessary system changes and directed exchanges to notify member brokers and publish the circular.