Minimum public unitholding requirement must be achieved through prescribed methods under SEBI circular, with disclosure and exchange monitoring
InvITs having public unitholding below the required threshold must raise public unitholding to the mandated level within three years using prescribed methods such as fresh issuance, offer for sale (via offer document or secondary market), rights or bonus issues with related-party renunciation, institutional placement, capped ETF transfers, or open-market sales subject to volume and yearly limits. Sponsors and related parties must observe disclosure, timing, and non-purchase undertakings; the Investment Manager must announce details to exchanges and secure undertakings, while exchanges monitor methods and report non-compliance to SEBI.

Minimum public unitholding compliance for REITs via prescribed issuance, sale, transfer and disclosure mechanisms under securities rules.
Regulation 14(2A) mandates listed REITs to achieve a Minimum Public Unitholding within a specified period. The Manager may use prescribed mechanisms-issuance to public, offer for sale by Sponsors/Manager and related parties via offer document or secondary market, rights or bonus issues with forgoing of entitlements by Sponsors/Manager, institutional placement, conditional open market sales subject to volume and disclosure constraints, or transfers to an ETF-subject to advance announcement, undertakings, legal compliance, and stock exchange monitoring.

Disclosure of non-cooperative issuers requires CRAs to publish and daily-update two segregated public lists and report compliance.
CRAs must publish two separate public lists of non-cooperative issuers-(i) listed or proposed-to-be-listed securities and (ii) other ratings-showing issuer name, date of categorisation as non-cooperative, and a link to the issuer's press releases; these disclosures must be updated daily. The obligation is effective July 15, 2023, with CRAs required to report board-ratified compliance within one quarter and subject to half-yearly internal audit monitoring under the CRA Regulations.

Investor Service Centres to ensure accessible complaint lodging, facilitation of arbitration and investor guidance across exchanges.
Investor Service Centres shall be maintained or expanded by stock exchanges, singly or jointly, to provide minimum facilities enabling investor information access, complaint lodging and dispute resolution. Facilities required include regional newspapers, internet-enabled computers, physical and electronic complaint receipt with a dedicated staff member, facilitation desks for grievance and arbitration applications, video-enabled arbitration access, meeting space, office infrastructure, a legal and educational library, and visitor records. Complaint status must be maintained electronically.

Annual secretarial compliance report requirement: REIT managers must appoint a practicing company secretary and file the specified report within the prescribed period.
SEBI requires the Manager of a REIT to appoint a practicing company secretary to examine compliance with applicable SEBI regulations and to produce an annual secretarial compliance report in the prescribed Annex A format. The Manager must file the report with stock exchanges within sixty days of the financial year end, annex it to the REIT's annual report, provide access to required documents and records for examination, and monitor corrective actions; stock exchanges will monitor compliance. The requirement is effective from the financial year 2023 24.

Annual secretarial compliance report requirement for InvITs mandates practitioner certification and filing with stock exchanges promptly.
The investment manager must appoint a practicing company secretary to examine compliance with applicable SEBI statutes, regulations, circulars and guidelines and prepare an annual secretarial compliance report in the prescribed format. The report must be filed with stock exchanges and annexed to the InvIT's annual report within sixty days of year end, disclose deviations, records maintained, any regulatory actions, and prior observations with actions taken, while stock exchanges will monitor compliance.

REITs must file quarterly and annual governance compliance reports in prescribed Annex formats within specified timelines.
Managers of REITs must submit a Compliance Report on Governance in prescribed Annex formats: Annex I quarterly within twenty-one days of each quarter end, Annex II annually within twenty-one days of the financial year end, and Annex III within three months of the financial year end; reports must be signed by the compliance officer or CEO and are to be filed with stock exchanges and included in the REIT's annual report.

Governance compliance reporting mandatory under SEBI requires quarterly filings in prescribed formats signed by the compliance officer or CEO.
Regulation 26K mandates the investment manager of an InvIT to submit a quarterly compliance report on governance to recognised stock exchanges within twenty-one days of quarter-end, signed by the compliance officer or CEO. SEBI prescribes three formats-Annex I (quarterly), Annex II (annual website and regulatory disclosures), and Annex III (annual affirmations)-detailing board and committee composition, meeting records, affirmations on compliance with InvIT Regulations, website disclosures, and annual attestations. Reports must be filed on time, included in the InvIT's annual report, and will be monitored by stock exchanges; effective from financial year 2023-24.

UPI block collateral enables direct client-level settlement and CC debits to secure trading obligations without member custody.
SEBI introduces a supplementary UPI block facility allowing investors to block funds in favour of the clearing corporation for use as cash collateral and settlement without transferring funds to members. The CC will debit these blocks for client-level obligations, settlement follows two pay-in rounds and one pay-out with direct client pay-outs for compliant UPI-block clients, shortages are managed by debiting blocks or devolving residuals to clearing members, and securities collateral remains via pledge/re-pledge of approved instruments.

Trading Preferences: brokers must register clients on all active exchanges for opted segments, with opt-out via negative consent.
Requires brokers to register new clients on all active stock exchanges for chosen segments and to offer existing clients default access on all active exchanges for segments already opted into, with notification via email/SMS and provision for client negative consent (opt-out); brokers must activate/deactivate segments per client preference and exchanges must amend rules, monitor compliance through half-yearly audits/inspections and report monthly to SEBI.

Issue and Disclosure Requirements: consolidated Master Circular mandates standardized disclosures, rights issue mechanics and enforcement protocols.
The Master Circular consolidates SEBI directions under the ICDR Regulations, rescinds listed prior circulars while deeming past actions and pending applications under those circulars as having been taken under corresponding provisions here. It prescribes a fine and enforcement framework for non-compliance, standardized rights issue procedures including dematerialized rights entitlements and mandatory ASBA, revised abridged prospectus and cover disclosures with KPI substantiation, mandatory online filing and an Issue Summary Document regime in structured format, retail compensation rules for ASBA failures, and rules for NCDs with warrants and Innovators Growth Platform investor recognition.

Dematerialisation of AIF units mandated: schemes must convert and issue units only in dematerialised form with depositories enforcing transfer controls
Dematerialisation of AIF units is mandated with phased timelines for conversion and for issuance only in dematerialised form; schemes maturing on or before the specified cutoff are exempt. Transfers of dematerialised units continue to be governed by the PPM and investor agreements, and any transfer requiring AIF/manager approval must be processed in the depository system only after such approval. Depositories must amend rules and implement transfer controls; managers must report compliance via the intermediary portal and trustees/sponsors must ensure the Compliance Test Report reflects these requirements.

Valuation standards for AIF portfolios require prescribed methodologies, independent valuers, and enhanced investor disclosures.
A tiered valuation framework mandates that securities covered by mutual fund norms follow those norms, while other securities follow industry endorsed valuation guidelines; Managers must disclose valuation methodology in the PPM. Managers must ensure an independent valuer performs valuations, retain responsibility for true and fair valuation, document any deviations from established policies, notify investors of significant valuation deviations with reasons, treat methodology changes as material and disclose annual PPM details of methodology and accounting changes and their valuation impact.

Liquidation scheme option requires investor consent and specified bidding procedures in the liquidation period for unsold AIF assets.
SEBI permits AIFs during the liquidation period to sell unliquidated investments to a designated Liquidation Scheme or distribute them in-specie after obtaining 75% investor consent by value. The manager must arrange a bid for at least 25% of the unliquidated investments, disclose the bid and two independent valuations, and offer dissenting investors an exit from the 25% bid; bidders related to the scheme cannot take exit. For performance reporting the sale or distribution is valued at the bid value if the 25% bid condition is met, otherwise at one rupee. Managers must report compliance and values to SEBI portals and Performance Benchmarking Agencies.

Scheme of Arrangement filings: SEBI master circular mandates pre filing disclosures, valuation and shareholder protections.
This Master Circular consolidates SEBI requirements for a Scheme of Arrangement and procedures for seeking relaxation under Sub rule (7) of rule 19 SCRR. It mandates pre filing with a designated stock exchange of the draft scheme and specified documents including valuation reports, fairness opinion, auditor's certificate, compliance and complaints reports, and creditor NOCs; requires web disclosure and public shareholder e voting protections where shareholding or related party interests change; sets valuation, accounting and lock in conditions for schemes involving unlisted entities; and prescribes eligibility and additional conditions for listing without an IPO and for listing non convertible instruments.

Anti money laundering group based policies required; intermediaries must strengthen CDD, register nonprofits, and file STRs when tip off risk.
SEBI mandates group level AML/CFT policies using the statutory definition of group; tightens CDD to require reliable independent verification, authorization checks for persons acting on behalf of juridical clients, lowers beneficial ownership thresholds to 10% for non individuals and trusts, applies PEP norms to family and close relatives, requires nonprofit client registration on the NITI Aayog DARPAN portal with five year retention, directs filing of Suspicious Transaction Reports if further CDD would tip off the client, and requires pre launch ML/TF risk assessments and use of name screening technology.

Restriction on platform offerings mandates Online Bond Platforms to list only specified eligible securities and divest other products.
Online Bond Platform Providers must restrict offerings to specified eligible securities and divest other products or services; holding companies, subsidiaries or associates cannot use the platform brand or links to offer unregulated products or access platform user information or cross-sell. Orders in eligible listed debt-type securities must be routed through a recognised stock exchange RFQ platform and settled via the respective Clearing Corporation or through a stock exchange mechanism as specified; investor grievance redressal shall follow the Master Circular for Stock Brokers. Non-compliance invites action under the SEBI Act.

Research Analyst regulation consolidates SEBI circulars and mandates compliance, disclosure, reporting and prior-approval procedures for key changes
SEBI's Master Circular consolidates all circulars for Research Analysts, rescinds listed circulars as applicable while preserving prior actions, and prescribes key obligations: procedural rules for proxy advisors (voting policy, methodology disclosure, client/company sharing, conflict disclosures), grievance redress mechanisms including publication of an Investor Charter and monthly complaint data via SCORES, CERT-In SaaS advisory compliance with half-yearly undertakings, FATCA/CRS due diligence, mandatory annual compliance audits, prior-approval process for change in control via the SI Portal, an advertisement code with required disclosures and prohibitions, and comprehensive outsourcing and conflict of interest controls.

Client level segregation of advisory and distribution mitigates conflicts and imposes specific compliance and reporting obligations.
SEBI's Master Circular consolidates applicable IA circulars, rescinds earlier ones as applicable while preserving prior actions, and prescribes operative obligations: client level segregation of advisory and distribution services; mandatory written advisory agreements; prescribed fee modes with documentation; qualification and registration rules; recordkeeping of client interactions; annual compliance audits with adverse finding reporting; prohibition of free trials without risk profiling; mandatory risk profiling with client consent; traceable banking receipts for fees; IAASB membership and reporting; advertising, outsourcing, SaaS security and complaint reporting requirements.

Certified copy fee payments must be electronic and confirmation sent to the regulator as prescribed.
Payment for certified copies must be made electronically by direct credit to the regulator's bank account via NEFT/RTGS/IMPS or online payment through the regulator's payment gateway; demand drafts are no longer accepted. Applicants must send payment confirmation to the concerned department and a designated email in the prescribed format including payer details, transaction number, bank/IFSC, virtual account code, purpose, and GST information.