Redemption restrictions on IDRs: permitted only when IDRs are infrequently traded with mandated announcement and processing timelines.
Redemption of IDRs into underlying shares is permitted only after the initial lock in and solely when IDRs are deemed infrequently traded under a six month trading turnover test; issuers must test liquidity semi annually, treat a qualifying low liquidity result as the redemption trigger, make prescribed public announcements and exchange notifications, accept applications during the announced window, complete redemptions within the stipulated processing period, and have the domestic depository notify revised shareholding patterns upon completion.

Liquidity enhancement schemes permitted with board approval, transparent incentives, monitoring and disclosure, and capped exchange-level incentives.
Liquidity enhancement schemes for illiquid equity derivatives may be introduced for specified low volume or new securities, subject to prior Board approval, quarterly Board monitoring, objective non-discriminatory rules for liquidity enhancers, performance linked and transparently measurable incentives, advance public disclosure and monthly dissemination of incentive and volume outcomes by liquidity enhancer and security.

Option to hold units in demat form: mutual funds must enable allotment to demat accounts and disclose correct ISINs.
Mutual funds must offer investors the option to receive allotment of units in demat form across all scheme types by providing a demat account field in subscription forms; AMCs must obtain and quote the correct ISIN for each option of every scheme alongside the scheme name in all Statements of Account/Common Account Statements to prevent dematerialisation rejections and facilitate transfers.

Differential pricing adjustment: permit eligible investors to pay net-of-discount at bidding stage, with disclosure and system safeguards.
Investors eligible for differential pricing may remit the bid amount net of the discount at the time of bidding; merchant bankers must disclose this option and bid reporting requirements in the offer documents, discounts are preferably stated in absolute terms within regulatory limits, stock exchanges must equip bidding platforms to accept discounted net payments and enforce discount ineligibility where net payment exceeds the retail threshold, syndicate members and bank branches must enter the bid price as indicated, SCSBs must implement system changes, and investor category segregation shall be based on net payment after discount.

Running account authorisation: brokers must treat authorisations as continuing until revoked and disclose this in client statements.
Removes the annual renewal requirement for running account authorisation and revises the authorisation to be dated and expressly revocable at any time; brokers must state in periodical account statements that the running account authorisation will continue until revoked by the client. Stock exchanges must notify brokers, publish the circular, and amend bye laws, rules and regulations to implement these changes.

Minimum net worth requirement for self clearing members in currency derivatives established under SEBI authority, effective immediately.
The circular requires that a self clearing member in the currency derivatives segment must maintain a minimum net worth of Rs. 5 crore as an eligibility condition for self clearing. It is issued under SEBI's regulatory powers to protect investors and regulate the securities market, applies to recognised exchanges and clearing corporations/clearing houses, and came into force on the date of the circular.

Reporting requirement for offshore derivative instruments updated-old format permitted temporarily while revised reporting and undertaking take effect.
SEBI deferred implementation of the new reporting format for Offshore Derivative Instruments/Participatory Notes, permitting the old format through the June reporting month while requiring the first monthly report under the revised timetable to be submitted for the July reporting month and making the additional undertaking applicable from the April reporting month onward.

ASBA facility: Syndicate-mediated blocked-funds applications mandated for non-retail issuances, with SCSB branch designation required.
Regulator authorises ASBA through syndicate and sub-syndicate members who may upload bids and forward physical ASBA forms to SCSBs for signature verification, blocking of funds and transmission to the registrar. SCSBs must name at least one branch in each bidding centre to receive Syndicate ASBA forms and submit branch details for publication. Non-retail applicants are required to use ASBA for public and rights issues, with merchant bankers ensuring offer document payment disclosures. An indicative timeline governs upload, validation, blocking, reconciliation, allotment and funds transfer.

Annual issuer charges now set by average folio count, changing fee calculation and enabling adjustments with issuers.
Annual issuer charges will be calculated using the average number of folios (ISIN positions) during the previous financial year, computed by dividing the total folios for the year by the total working days. Depositories may adjust any excess or deficit with issuers for the current financial year. Stock exchanges and depositories must amend bye laws and the Listing Agreement as applicable, notify stakeholders, publish the change online, and report implementation status in Monthly Development Reports.

Limitation law governs arbitration filings; depositories must align bye laws, notify participants and update websites.
The limitation period for filing an arbitration reference in depository matters shall be governed by the Limitation Act, 1963, including cases where the Limitation Act period has not expired and no arbitration was filed or where an arbitration was earlier rejected solely for delay but the Limitation Act period still subsists. Depositories must amend bye laws, notify Depository Participants to inform Beneficial Owners, and disseminate the change on their websites.

FII investment limits in long term infrastructure corporate bonds expanded, permitting unlisted bonds with defined lock in and allocation safeguards.
FII investment limits for long term infrastructure corporate bonds are expanded to include unlisted bonds issued by infrastructure companies, with eligibility determined under existing sector criteria. Investments carry a minimum three year lock in but may be traded inter se among FIIs during that period; transfers to domestic investors are not permitted. The earlier allocation methodology for the category is withdrawn, allowing FIIs and sub accounts to access the limits without prior approval until the overall investment nears the cap, after which the prior allocation process will resume. Exchanges must provide a special trading window for FIIs.

Discontinuance of FII securities-lending reporting; reporting withdrawn as no outstanding short positions while synthetic short prohibition persists.
The circular withdraws the weekly reporting obligation for Foreign Institutional Investors on securities lent abroad because there were no outstanding short positions as of March 04, 2011; the prohibition on synthetic short positions remains in force and custodians must inform their FII clients.

Compliance approval requirement for market-related news: employees must get Compliance Officer sign-off or face regulatory liability.
Employees of SEBI-registered market intermediaries must forward market-related news only after approval by the concerned Compliance Officer; non-compliance by employees and breaches by the Compliance Officer attract liability. Stock Exchanges and Depositories must notify participants, amend bye-laws/rules for uniform implementation, publish the circular on their websites, and report implementation status to SEBI.

Unauthenticated news circulation must be prevented by intermediaries through internal controls and compliance officer approval.
Intermediaries must implement internal codes of conduct and controls to prevent employees from circulating rumours or unverified market information; all market-related communications must be forwarded only after review and approval by the intermediary's Compliance Officer, with restricted or supervised access to blogs/chat forums, maintenance of usage logs as records, and training and checks to ensure compliance. Stock Exchanges and Depositories must amend bye-laws, notify participants, disseminate the circular and report implementation to SEBI. The measures are issued under SEBI's regulatory powers to protect investors and regulate markets and are effective immediately.

Majority of non promoter holdings in dematerialized form enables shift from trade for trade to rolling settlement, certificate required.
Securities of companies that have established connectivity with both depositories may be shifted from Trade for Trade Settlement to Rolling Settlement if at least half of other-than-promoter holdings are dematerialized, supported by a certificate from the Registrar and Transfer Agent or, if no RTA exists, from a practising Company Secretary or Chartered Accountant, and provided there are no other grounds for continuing Trade for Trade Settlement; stock exchanges must report actions in Monthly/Quarterly Development Reports to SEBI.

Securitized debt instruments now require standardized listing, detailed pool/tranche reporting, and mandatory Actual/Actual convention.
SEBI's Listing Agreement mandates that SPDEs seeking listing must provide recurring pool , tranche and selected loan level disclosures (monthly statements within seven days), ensure timely payments and maintenance of credit enhancement, designate a Compliance Officer, facilitate dematerialisation and demat credit within two working days, deposit a security for public issues (1% with 50% cash subject to cap), and follow Actual/Actual day count convention; Exchanges may approve relaxations with SEBI approval and may take action for non compliance.

No entry load: mandates segregated load accounts and limits annual use of legacy load balances for marketing expenses.
Prohibition of entry load is mandated and upfront distributor commission must be paid directly by the investor. Exit loads and prior load balances are maintained outside NAV and may fund distributor commissions and marketing. Load balances must be segregated into balances as of July 31, 2009 and accretions thereafter; use of the pre August 1, 2009 balance is capped at one third of that balance per financial year (carry forward permitted), while post July 31, 2009 accretions are unrestricted for these purposes.

Allocation limits for FIIs adjusted: bidding and FCFS procedures set with entity caps and minimum bid requirements.
Allocation of unutilized FII limits in Government debt long term and Corporate Debt - old is effected via a bidding process on the NSE with per-entity caps and specified minimum bid and tick sizes, and via a first come first serve (FCFS) allocation for remaining amounts opened through a dedicated email channel; FCFS requests have a maximum per-request limit and unutilised portions are subject to a non-utilisation charge equal to the average successful bid premium.

T bill futures: new cash settled interest rate contract with defined valuation and strict margin and position limit regimes.
SEBI permits cash settled futures on the 91 day Government of India Treasury Bill with defined contract design, quotation as 100 minus futures discount yield, maximum maturity of twelve months, specified contract months and expiry mechanics, and contract valuation formulas for contract, daily settlement and final settlement values using weighted average discount yields. A risk management framework mandates margins based on a 99% one day VaR (3.5 sigma scan), minimum initial margin thresholds, an extreme loss margin, calendar spread margins with reduced extreme loss treatment, volatility estimation by exponential moving average ( =0.94) converted to price volatility via modified duration, and prescribed position limits for clients, trading members and FIIs.

Limitation period for arbitration extended to a three-year rule; eligible pending or previously time-barred claims may now proceed.
Limitation for stock exchange arbitration is governed by the Limitation Act, 1963 modified to a three-year period and applies where three years have not elapsed and either no arbitration was filed or earlier-filed arbitration was rejected solely for delay under the prior six-month bar; fees for new cases follow SEBI circulars of August 2010, and fees already paid in rejected cases will be deducted from the recomputed fees with the balance borne by parties; exchanges must publicise, amend rules/bye-laws, notify eligible applicants, report implementation to SEBI, and submit to SEBI inspection.