Reporting obligations for FVCIs: revised quarterly format, mandatory submissions and custodian responsibility enforced.
Foreign Venture Capital Investors must submit quarterly reports in a revised format for all quarters, including when no investments occur. Initial reports are to be emailed in the revised excel format and thereafter filed on the intermediary portal within the prescribed post quarter period. The template requires detailed general information about the FVCI, custody and banking details, investible funds and cumulative and quarterwise investment breakdowns by instrument, scheme and industry, and disclosure of regulatory status and any non adherence to securities laws.

Near zero data loss requirement strengthens business continuity plans, mandating near site replication and DRS staffing parity.
MIIs must implement Near Site (NS) capability alongside Disaster Recovery Site (DRS): stock exchanges must achieve near zero data loss at NS, clearing corporations and depositories must achieve zero data loss. Recovery Point Objective (RPO) must be near zero, with documented data reconciliation for resumption from DRS/NS. DRS must be staffed with personnel having equivalent expertise to Primary Data Centre (PDC) and capable of independently running live operations. Solution architectures must ensure high availability, fault tolerance, no single point of failure, data and transaction integrity; synchronous replication between PDC and NS is required.

Maintenance margin: securities funded through client cash collateral may be recognised as MTF maintenance margin with prescribed margin and eligibility.
Funded stocks received from the Clearing Corporation against client cash collateral may be considered as maintenance margin for MTF to the extent of the cash collateral, provided such stocks are separately identifiable, not comingled, pledged in favor of the trading member, and are Group 1 securities. The applicable margin for such funded stocks is VaR plus five times the Extreme Loss Margin, and trading members must report MTF exposures by 6:00 PM on T+1.

Payment obligation reporting timeline updated to require issuers of listed commercial paper to notify stock exchanges promptly.
Paragraph 8.4 of Chapter XVII of the NCS Master Circular is amended to require a certificate confirming fulfilment of its payment obligations to be submitted to stock exchanges within one working day of payment becoming due, aligning the timeline with Regulation 57 of the LoDR Regulations applicable to listed non-convertible securities.

Eligibility criteria for stock derivatives tightened, with strengthened cash market thresholds and a product success framework enforcing exits.
Stocks qualify for single stock derivatives only if they meet enhanced cash market thresholds on a continuous six month rolling basis, including top market capitalisation ranking, higher Median Quarter Sigma Order Size, increased Market Wide Position Limit, and raised Average Daily Delivery Value. Eligibility on any exchange confers derivatives access across exchanges, with VWAP based settlement. Failure to meet any criterion for three continuous months (post gestation) triggers exit; excluded stocks cannot be re included for one year. A Product Success Framework imposes participation, trading days, turnover and notional open interest minimums; non compliance similarly curtails issuance of new contracts while existing contracts may run to expiry.

Investor complaint review requirements revised: prior board pre approval removed; statements now to be placed quarterly for review.
Amendment aligns REIT disclosure procedures with LODR: the Trustee and Board/Governing Body must ensure investor complaints are redressed and the complaint statement is to be placed quarterly before the Board and Trustee for review; statements of deviation in use of proceeds must be placed for review and submitted to stock exchanges along with financial results. The circular is effective immediately under powers of Section 11(1) of the SEBI Act and Regulation 33 of the REIT Regulations.

InvITs: investor complaint statements to be reviewed quarterly; deviation statements filed with financial results.
The Trustee and the Board/Governing Body of the Investment Manager shall ensure timely redress of investor complaints and shall place the investor complaints statement before them quarterly for review. Statements of deviation in use of issue proceeds must continue until full utilisation or achievement of purpose, be placed before the Trustee and Board/Governing Body for review, and be submitted to the stock exchanges along with the submission of financial results. These amendments are effective immediately.

Cybersecurity and Cyber Resilience Framework for SEBI entities mandates SOC monitoring, VAPT, audits, CCI and incident reporting timelines.
The CSCRF is a standards based, graded cybersecurity and resiliency regime for SEBI Regulated Entities requiring category specific controls: governance, SOC based continuous monitoring (own/group/third party or Market SOC), mandatory ISO 27001 for MIIs and Qualified REs, structured VAPT and cyber audits by CERT In empanelled auditors with standard formats and timelines, Cyber Capability Index assessments, and mandatory incident reporting (6 hour/24 hour thresholds), RCA, forensic investigation and closure procedures-all to be implemented per the prescribed glide path and reported to the designated authorities.

Borrowing restrictions for Category I and II AIFs permit limited short-term drawdown financing with investor-cost allocation and disclosure.
SEBI permits Category I and II AIFs to borrow only for temporary operational needs and, additionally, to cover shortfalls in investor drawdowns for imminent investments as an emergency measure, subject to disclosure in the PPM, exhaustion of efforts to obtain the drawdown, borrowing caps tied to the investment amount/investable funds/other undrawn commitments (whichever is lower), charging borrowing costs solely to defaulting investor(s), prohibition on using this flexibility to vary drawdown timelines, periodic investor disclosure of terms and repayments, and a thirty-day cooling-off between permissible borrowings measured from repayment.

Migration of Venture Capital Funds to AIF Regulations enables time bound transfer with tenure treatment and a one time liquidation extension.
SEBI provides a time bound procedure for VCFs to migrate to AIF Regulations as Migrated Venture Capital Funds, requiring submission of the original VCF registration certificate and prescribed information; migration is available until July 19, 2025, with tenure of schemes preserved as per PPM or fixed with 75% investor approval where no definite tenure exists, and a one time additional liquidation period available for schemes whose liquidation period has expired, subject to absence of pending investor complaints and compliance with applicable AIF provisions and reporting requirements detailed in Annexures I and II.

SEBI issues an updated master circular consolidating registration, supervision, client protections, tech resilience and QSB obligations for stock brokers.
The Master Circular consolidates SEBI instructions to stock brokers up to August 9, 2024, superseding the May 22, 2024 circular, rescinding specified prior circulars insofar as they relate to stock brokers while preserving legal effects of past actions, and is issued under Section 11(1) of the SEBI Act. It prescribes unified rules on registration (including single registration), risk-based supervision and inspections, internal and system audit norms, client-facing requirements (KYC, Unique Client Code, running account settlement, prohibition of cash), technology and cyber-resilience obligations, an Early Warning Mechanism for diversion of client securities, and an enhanced regime for designation and obligations of Qualified Stock Brokers.

InvIT unitholders: nomination restriction waived if appointment right arises under debenture trustee regulation clause (e) proviso.
Paragraph 22.3.1(b) is amended to add a proviso that the restriction barring an entity from nominating a Unitholder Nominee Director-when that entity also has nomination rights as a shareholder or lender to the Investment Manager, the InvIT, its HoldCo(s) or SPVs-shall not apply if the right to appoint a nominee director is available under clause (e) of sub regulation (1) of regulation 15 of the SEBI (Debenture Trustees) Regulations, 1993.

Board nomination rights: proviso allows unitholders to nominate despite lender nomination rights under debenture trustees clause.
The Master Circular's restriction barring a unitholder from nominating a Unitholder Nominee Director when the same entity (or its associate) has director nomination rights as shareholder or lender is amended by a proviso: that restriction will not apply where the right to appoint a nominee director is available in terms of clause (e) of sub regulation (1) of regulation 15 of the Debenture Trustees regulation, permitting such unitholder nomination in those specified cases.

Yield to Call valuation: Mutual funds must value AT 1 bonds on YTC basis under regulatory guidance.
Mutual funds must value Additional Tier 1 bonds on a Yield to Call basis, consistent with NFRA's view that market practice and Ind AS 113 market based measurement support YTC. This valuation mandate is confined to valuation only; deemed maturity for other regulatory purposes and the capture of liquidity risk for perpetual bonds remains governed by clause 9.4.2 of the Master Circular.

Market abuse deterrence mechanism required for asset managers to detect alerts, process investigations and report regulatory actions.
AMCs must implement an institutional mechanism to identify and deter market abuse, including front running and fraudulent transactions, combining alert based surveillance, internal controls and escalation processes. Accountability lies with the CEO/MD (or equivalent) and Chief Compliance Officer. Procedures must provide for timely alert generation and processing, review of recorded communications, access logs and CCTV, board approved SOPs, personnel actions on suspicious activity, an escalation route to board and trustees, a documented whistle blower policy and periodic system reviews. Exchanges and depositories shall enable data sharing; AMCs must report examined alerts and actions in the Compliance Test Report and Half yearly Trustee Report.

Exemption for university funds from additional FPI disclosure obligations when qualifying AUM allocation and nonprofit status criteria are met.
SEBI exempts University Funds and University related Endowments eligible as Category I FPIs from certain additional disclosure requirements provided they maintain Indian equity AUM below 25% of global AUM, have global AUM above the prescribed threshold, and submit tax filings evidencing non-profit status; eligible jurisdictions will be specified by SEBI via the Standard Operating Procedure, and the amendment takes effect immediately.

Regulatory jurisdiction: ESG rating activities in the IFSC are subject to local regulator oversight, complaints and enforcement mechanisms.
SEBI has added the IFSC regulator to the list of authorities under the ERP framework so that ESG ratings undertaken by SEBI-registered ERPs under IFSC guidelines are governed by the IFSC regulatory regime. The IFSC regulator will handle issues arising from ERPs' IFSC activities, including complaints, enforcement actions and provision of information to third parties, and the circular is effective immediately.

IFSCA jurisdiction for CRA rating activities established, assigning complaints, enforcement and information duties to IFSCA.
Enables SEBI-registered Credit Rating Agencies to rate financial instruments in the IFSC-GIFT City under the regulatory framework of IFSCA; ratings under IFSCA guidelines are subject to IFSCA jurisdiction. IFSCA will address issues arising from CRA activities in the IFSC using powers under its Act, and will handle complaints, enforcement actions and provision of information to third parties and judicial or statutory bodies. The circular is effective immediately and issued under SEBI's enabling powers to protect investor interests and regulate the securities market.

Recognition of RAASB and IAASB enables BSE to administer RA/IA registration and impose administrative fees while ensuring fee neutrality.
BSE Limited is recognised as RAASB and IAASB for five years from July 25, 2024, and must adopt bye-laws, SOPs and guidance to supervise Research Analysts and Investment Advisers. Applicants for registration or renewal will pay administrative fees specified by RAASB/IAASB; SEBI's amended RA fee schedule takes effect from July 25, 2024, and total fees payable to SEBI and RAASB/IAASB will remain fee-neutral. Applications filed before July 25, 2024 will follow the previous SEBI fee structure, and other terms of SEBI's May 2, 2024 circular continue to apply.

Surveillance of securities market: exchanges and depositories implement PAN-based freezes and automated disclosures to curb insider trading.
Master Circular consolidates SEBI surveillance directives requiring initial listing trades in a Trade for Trade segment, mandating intermediaries to implement internal conduct controls against circulation of unauthenticated market news, standardising PIT disclosure formats and reporting of Code of Conduct violations, and implementing system-driven disclosures and automated dissemination. It establishes a portal-based framework where Designated Depositories auto-populate DP PAN/demat details, listed companies confirm trading-window dates at least T-2 days, and depositories/exchanges freeze PAN at ISIN level to restrict on- and off-market transactions during trading-window closures with time-bound procedures for additions and exemptions.