Credit rating agencies must adopt a harmonised industry classification for ratings, benchmarking and research from Oct 1, 2022.
Credit rating agencies must apply the harmonised four level industry classification framework for rating exercises, peer benchmarking and research, with mandatory applicability from October 1, 2022; agencies may submit feedback before that date while exchanges may recalibrate the framework where feasible, and the requirement is issued under statutory regulatory authority to protect investor interests and promote market development.

Discontinuation of pooling of mutual fund transactions extended and requiring mandatory two factor authentication for redemptions.
Extension of the compliance timeline for the discontinuation of pooling of funds and/or units in mutual fund transactions and related safeguards, including Two Factor Authentication for redemptions and source account verification; modification that new mandates accepted after the revised applicability date must be in favour of SEBI-recognized Clearing Corporations and exclusively for subscriptions to mutual fund schemes; obligations on AMCs, Stock Exchanges, Depositories, Clearing Corporations and RTAs to implement the Circulars and follow the activity-specific timelines in Annexure A.

Rebalancing timelines for mutual fund portfolios impose rebalancing, disclosure, and operational restrictions for prolonged asset allocation deviations.
Timelines require schemes (excluding overnight, index and ETFs as specified) to rebalance mandated asset allocations within a prescribed business-day period for passive breaches; the Investment Committee may extend timelines on written justification. Failure to rebalance after mandated plus extended periods leads to restrictions on launching new schemes and prohibition on levying exit load for investors exiting affected schemes. AMCs must report deviations to trustees at each stage and, where the deviated portfolio exceeds a specified proportion of the main portfolio, immediately notify investors by SMS and email/letter about the breach and subsequent rebalancing, using a uniform subject line; periodic disclosures must reflect ongoing deviations. The norms apply only to main portfolios.

Related party transactions: newly material transactions must be placed for shareholder approval under revised materiality rules.
Clarification on Regulation 23 confirms that RPTs approved by the audit committee and shareholders before the operative date need no fresh approval; existing pre notification contracts that continue and become material under the revised materiality threshold must be placed for shareholder approval at the first general meeting after the operative date; and omnibus audit committee approvals must still be presented to shareholders when transactions are material under Regulation 23(1).

DLT-based asset identification requires unique Asset IDs and duplicate checks; issuers and trustees must record and monitor security data.
The circular mandates use of a DLT platform to record and monitor assets securing non-convertible securities, requiring a system-generated unique Asset ID in a prescribed 12-character format, with issuers entering asset details once and depositories performing duplicate/near-duplicate checks based on common and asset-specific parameters. Issuers and debenture trustees must verify alerts, trustees must annually reconcile assets and remove duplicates, issuers must report events reducing security cover as trigger events immediately, and required credit rating information must be uploaded and validated on the platform.

Investment concentration norm flexibility lets Category III AIFs choose investable funds or NAV basis, subject to disclosure and conditions.
Category III AIFs may calculate the investment concentration norm either on the basis of investable funds or on scheme net asset value. Existing funds may opt for the investable funds basis with trustee/board/designated partner approval and must inform investors within thirty days. The basis for calculation must be disclosed in the placement memorandum and cannot be changed during the scheme term. Funds choosing the NAV basis must comply with the conditions set out in the earlier referenced circular. The circular is effective immediately and requires investor communication, disclosure, and adherence to specified conditions.

Electronic Gold Receipts trading and settlement units must be specified by stock exchanges, with disclosure and implementation obligations.
SEBI mandates that EGR product specifications define deposit unit, trading unit, settlement unit (equal to trading unit) and withdrawal unit (equal to deposit unit); trading units may not be smaller than one-tenth of the deposit unit and must be specified by the beneficial owner to the Vault Manager. Exchanges must include deposit and trading unit details within ISINs, disclose information to investors, reflect units in contract specifications, amend rules and publish the circular, and report implementation to SEBI.

Options on Commodity Indices permitted; exchanges must secure approval and follow prescribed product design and risk management framework.
Recognised stock exchanges with commodity derivatives segments may introduce options on commodity indices with prior approval and must follow the prescribed product design and risk management framework: cash settled European style options on indices with existing futures; minimum strikes per expiry; specified contract size, trading hours, expiry and tenor rules; final settlement by volume weighted average of constituents in the final hour; distinct position limits for clients and members; and CPMI IOSCO aligned margining, portfolio level client margins, real time scenario application, mark to market within margining, and additional option specific margins and charges.

Change of control approvals require prior regulatory filing, time-bound in-principle clearance, and specified post-sanction submissions.
An application for approval of change in control of an AIF Sponsor/Manager involving a scheme of arrangement must be filed with the regulator before initiating the scheme sanction process; upon regulatory satisfaction in-principle approval will be granted for a limited validity within which the sanction application must be filed. After sanction, final approval requires submission within the prescribed period of: application for final approval, sanctioning order, approved scheme, a statement of modifications to the draft scheme with reasons, and compliance details against in-principle conditions.

Standardisation of industry classification enforces uniform four level coding and mandated issuer reporting for listed debt securities.
Issuers must adopt a harmonised four level industry classification and submit prescribed data at ISIN allotment and, post listing, update specified fields to any exchange where listed within 30 days of financial year end and on event basis; the circular deletes the issuer type clause and replaces the sector classification table in the Annex, with applicability to debt issuances opening on or after April 1, 2022.

Orders per second limits for algorithmic trading increased, allowing higher OPS subject to infrastructure capacity and SEBI approval.
Permits Stock Exchanges to set the per CTCL ID/ATS User ID Orders Per Second (OPS) limit up to one hundred and twenty orders per second, measured over a rolling five second window (five times the per second limit for each overlapping interval). Exchanges must prescribe economic disincentives for excess orders and ensure limits match system capacity. Further relaxation requires infrastructure upgrades demonstrating trading system capacity at least four times peak order load and SEBI approval; the revision is effective April first, two thousand twenty two.

Mandate restrictions for mutual fund transactions: payments must route only to approved accounts and intermediaries face strict controls.
Payments for mutual fund subscriptions must be routed only to designated Approved Accounts; existing mandates may continue only if Payment Aggregators ensure beneficiary accounts are exclusively clearing corporation accounts (for exchange transactions) or mutual fund pool/scheme accounts (for other platforms). Exchanges, clearing corporations and AMCs must contract with PAs, implement checks and balances including annual third party audits, and maintain grievance mechanisms. AMCs remain liable for misuse by PAs or intermediaries. Non demat redemptions require Two Factor Authentication with an OTP as one factor.

UPI mechanism limit increase expands permitted blocked-funds threshold for debt public issue applications, facilitating uniformity and ease of investment.
The circular amends Chapters I and II of the Operational Circular to raise the permissible per-application limit for using the UPI mechanism to block funds for applications in public issues of non-convertible securities and related debt instruments. It modifies application-process provisions, intermediary responsibilities (including Sponsor Bank role) and affirms that UPI-based blocking via app/web interfaces and intermediaries is available for applications within the revised UPI limit. The amendments apply to public issues opening on or after May 1, 2022.

System Driven Disclosures automation streamlines takeover and encumbrance reporting, shifting filings to depository systems and enhancing transparency.
Automation under the Takeover Regulations extends System Driven Disclosures so depository-recorded transactions under Regulation 29 and 31 need no manual filing except for acquisitions with persons acting in concert, holdings in physical form, and entities without PAN or designated depository. All encumbrances must be recorded in the depository system with ultimate lender/trustee or debenture issuer details and reasons for encumbrance; depositories must enable recording of outstanding encumbrances by June 30, 2022. Depositories will provide data to exchanges for consolidation and dissemination; quarterly reconciliation by listed companies, exchanges and depositories is required; provisions effective July 01, 2022.

Relaxation of compliance timelines allows intermediaries additional time to complete specified shareholder service requests under SEBI circular
SEBI extends prior timeline relaxations for specific shareholder service requests due to Covid-19, allowing intermediaries an additional thirty days over prescribed timelines for processing remat and demat requests, transmission, issuance of duplicate certificates, name changes/transpositions, consolidation/split/replacement/amalgamation of folios, and handling investor correspondence/grievances including SCORES complaints; Stock Exchanges and Depositories must notify constituents and the circular is issued under the regulator's powers to protect investor interests and regulate the securities market.

Swing pricing framework extension allows delayed implementation under regulator's investor-protection mandate for mutual funds sector.
The regulator has extended the implementation timeline for the swing pricing framework for mutual fund schemes, deferring the effective compliance date to May 1, 2022. The extension, granted in response to industry requests, maintains that asset management companies and trustees must adopt the swing pricing mechanism as earlier prescribed while the circular relies on the regulator's statutory powers to protect investor interests and regulate the securities market.

Open access to market data: mandated free viewing and download in prescribed format, with chargeable data clearly identified.
Market data provided pursuant to regulatory reporting and disclosure obligations must be made available to users free of charge for viewing and download in the mandated format and may be used for value addition; data that is chargeable must be clearly identified as such in the public domain, and these requirements apply to all market intermediaries and data sources with immediate effect.

Segregation and Monitoring of Collateral: implementation timeline extended, remaining provisions deferred to a later date.
SEBI has extended the commencement for the provisions of its July 20, 2021 circular concerning segregation and monitoring of collateral at client level, excluding Paragraphs 4 and 5 which are already effective; the remaining provisions will come into force on a later, specified date following stakeholder requests, and recognized clearing corporations and stock exchanges are directed to adjust their implementation and compliance plans accordingly under SEBI's regulatory powers.

Nomination for trading and demat accounts gets extended timelines, optional resubmission and relaxed form requirements for existing investors.
Existing eligible trading and demat account holders are granted additional time to furnish nomination details or opt out of nomination, with freezing of accounts deferred to 31 March 2023. Re-submission is optional for investors who had already provided nomination details, and those who have not yet submitted may do so through two-factor authentication login. Certain nominee and guardian particulars in the nomination form are made optional, while all other provisions of the earlier circular remain unchanged.

HUF demat account Karta succession: new Karta to be senior-most member; depositories to update systems.
In the event of the death of the Karta, the name of the deceased Karta in the Beneficial Owner (BO) account shall be replaced by the new Karta appointed by the member of the HUF who in such a case shall be senior most member of the family. Depositories are required to amend relevant bye-laws, carry out system changes, disseminate the circular on their websites and report implementation status in their Monthly Development Report; other Master Circular provisions remain unchanged.