Stress testing requirements for liquid and money market funds mandate regular policy-driven tests and trustee reporting.
AMCs must maintain a documented stress testing policy, approved by the Board, mandating at least monthly stress tests of Liquid Fund and Money Market schemes covering interest rate risk, credit risk, and liquidity and redemption risk; methodologies and parameters must be detailed, vulnerabilities must be reported to trustees with corrective actions, the policy must be reviewed annually for adequacy and integration into risk management, and trustees must report compliance and remedial steps in the Half Yearly Trustee Report.

Listing migration for companies of de-recognized exchanges allowed a time-limited window to secure nationwide exchange listing with conditions.
Exclusively listed companies of de-recognized or non-operational stock exchanges are permitted an eighteen-month period to obtain listing on a nationwide stock exchange subject to conditions: listing limited to previously listed classes of securities; no material change in shareholding indicating change of control; waiver of NOC where the company filed returns with the Registrar of Companies for the prior two financial years provided the company submits independent professional compliance certification and the nationwide exchange verifies compliance. Such companies remain on Dissemination Boards until listed and nationwide exchanges must process applications via a dedicated cell within two months.

Acquisition window mechanism enables stock exchange tendering and clearing for takeover, buyback and delisting offers under prescribed procedures.
The circular establishes an Acquisition Window on recognised stock exchanges for tendering and settlement of shares in takeovers, buybacks and delisting offers (applicable to Public Announcements on or after July 01, 2015). Acquirers appoint registered brokers, buyers place orders at tender opening, sellers place sell orders during trading hours, and tendered shares must be transferred to a special clearing corporation account prior to bidding. The Merchant Banker finalises the basis of acceptance; the clearing corporation executes settlement by transferring accepted shares to escrow, replicating secondary market settlement, with prescribed disclosures and procedures for physical and locked in shares.

Position limits for currency derivatives updated; underlying exposure required for positions exceeding prescribed exchange limits.
The circular revises per exchange position limits for FPIs and domestic clients in USD INR and in the combined EUR INR/GBP INR/JPY INR pairs, permitting positions up to those limits without proof of underlying exposure while requiring qualifying Indian debt or equity exposure to take long positions in excess; short positions are capped and breaches trigger exchange restrictions. Exchanges may set sub limits within the combined limit, must monitor and report breaches to the RBI surveillance team, and implement systems, by law changes, dissemination and reporting to the regulator.

Board composition requirement breaches trigger escalating fines and enforcement actions for delayed appointment of a woman director.
SEBI prescribes a graduated penalty regime for failure to meet the Clause 49(II)(A)(1) requirement of a board-level woman director, directing stock exchanges to levy specified fines for entities that comply after the March 31, 2015 timeline according to defined compliance windows and daily rates, and warning that SEBI may take further action against non compliant entities, promoters or directors for breaches beyond the stated period.

Dematerialisation requirement before shifting to normal rolling settlement - exchanges to verify depository connectivity and certificate compliance.
Companies that establish connectivity with both depositories may apply to nationwide stock exchanges to shift securities from Trade for Trade Settlement to Normal Rolling Settlement. Exchanges shall verify depository connectivity and may shift trading only if at least fifty percent of non promoter holdings are dematerialised, certified by the RTA or a practising Company Secretary/Chartered Accountant where no RTA exists, and no other grounds require continuation of TFTS. Exchanges must inform the market and listed companies of such shifts.

Simplified Account Opening: SARAL AOF permits residents to open trading and demat accounts using single proof of address.
SARAL AOF permits resident individuals to open trading and demat accounts with a simplified form while preserving standard KYC documents and AML/PML obligations. An investor need submit only one documentary proof of address (residence/correspondence or permanent); if that address is not the current residence, a declaration of correspondence address is acceptable without proof, subject to notification of changes within two weeks and intermediary verification by positive confirmation methods such as dispatch acknowledgements, telephone contact or visits.

Investment of coupons in government securities permitted outside the FPI government debt limit, with a five day reinvestment window.
FPIs may reinvest coupons received on Government securities into additional Government securities, with such coupon investments classified as a separate investment category and kept outside the applicable FPI government debt limit. FPIs have five working days from receipt of the coupon to invest and a five working day re-investment facility applies to securities purchased using coupons; coupons from those securities receive the same facility. Depositories must enable daily custodial reporting and disseminate coupon investment data with daily debt utilisation data.

FPI maturity requirement: future corporate debt investments must have a minimum three-year residual maturity; sales to domestic investors permitted.
Future FPI investments within the corporate debt limit must be made in corporate bonds with a minimum residual maturity of three years; FPIs are not permitted to invest in liquid and money market mutual fund schemes; there is no lock-in period and FPIs are free to sell securities, including those presently held with less than three years residual maturity, to domestic investors; custodians must notify their FPI clients.

Market-wide circuit breaker triggers coordinated trading halt and purging of unmatched orders upon specified index movement.
Stock exchanges must compute market-wide indices after every trade and check for breach of circuit breaker thresholds; on breach they shall stop matching executable orders to effect a trading halt and purge all unmatched orders. Exchanges must prioritise circuit-breaker messages and reserve the systems and networks used for index computation and halt initiation from other uses. Annual system audits shall review the mechanism for improvements. Exchanges must amend bye-laws, implement necessary systems, notify brokers and disseminate the provisions, pursuant to regulatory authority to protect investors and regulate the market.

Risk management framework: depositories must adopt board approved policies and establish a Chief Risk Officer led committee to oversee risks.
Depositories must adopt a Board approved Risk Management Framework aligned with FMI principles that provides an integrated view of risks (including technological, legal, operational, custody and business risks), specifies systems, policies and procedures to identify, assess, monitor and manage risks, states a risk tolerance policy, and allocates responsibilities and accountability. A Risk Management Group/Committee headed by a Chief Risk Officer must periodically identify and evaluate risks, recommend mitigation, monitor framework effectiveness and report to the Board; bye laws must be amended and implementation status reported to the regulator.

FATCA registration: Model One FFIs must obtain a GIIN to avoid withholding; indicate "GIIN applied for" if pending.
SEBI directs intermediaries with US reportable accounts under the Model One IGA to register with the IRS and obtain a Global Intermediary Identification Number (GIIN) for FATCA certification; intermediaries that have applied but not yet received a GIIN must inform withholding agents the GIIN is "applied for," enabling the withholding agent the prescribed period to obtain and verify the GIIN to avoid withholding.

Single registration for depository participants permits initial and permanent registration through any depository subject to prescribed due diligence.
One certificate of initial registration and one permanent registration obtained through any depository will enable an entity to act as a participant across depositories. New entities apply to SEBI for initial registration through a depository; entities already registered with one depository apply to another depository for approval. Approvals require due diligence confirming Fit and Proper status, corrective action for prior deficiencies, recovery of pending dues, and payment of prescribed registration fees. Depositories must share participant information, report approvals monthly to SEBI, amend bye laws, and publicise the changes.

Investor grievance redressal via SCORES requires authenticated entities to upload ATRs and resolve complaints within thirty days.
The Circular mandates centralized investor grievance redressal via the SCORES platform, requiring listed companies and SEBI registered intermediaries to obtain SCORES authentication, provide designated contact details, and upload Action Taken Reports (ATRs) and supporting documents electronically. Complaints remain pending until SEBI disposes them in SCORES; ATRs must be uploaded and proof of dispatch preserved. Failure to file ATRs within thirty days is treated as failure to furnish information to SEBI and deemed non redressal. Companies remain responsible where RTI/STA handle complaint processing on their behalf.

Mutual fund transactions via stock exchange infrastructure now permit non demat processing while retaining direct pay in/pay out safeguards.
Permits mutual fund transactions through recognised stock exchange infrastructure to include non demat transactions while preserving the prohibition on distributors handling pay in and payout of funds and units. Exchanges and clearing corporations must ensure funds pay in are received directly by the recognised clearing corporation and payouts are made directly to investor accounts; under the demat model, units are credited and debited from investors' demat accounts. Other provisions of the prior circular remain unchanged.

Retail cut-off bidding in OFS: retail investors can bid at cut-off price with proportionate allocation and cash margin requirement.
Sellers may permit retail investors to bid at a cut-off price alongside price bids; sellers must announce a floor price by 5 pm on T 1, exchanges will decide retail-eligible quantities based on that floor price, and no indicative price will be published for the retail portion. Margins for cut-off bids are at the floor price; retail bids below cut-off are rejected, bids at cut-off are allocated proportionately on oversubscription, and any unsubscribed retail portion may be allocated to non-retail. Clearing corporations shall collect 100% cash margin for retail bids and settlements shall follow normal secondary market processes.

Offshore derivative issuance eligibility limited to eligible subscribers meeting regulator signatory and AML criteria; non compliant ODIs barred from renewal.
FPIs may issue ODIs only to subscribers who satisfy FPI eligibility criteria, including regulator MoU membership, BIS membership for banks, and exclusion of FATF identified jurisdictions, and only to subscribers without opaque structures. Investment restrictions applicable to FPIs apply to ODI subscribers, with aggregation of holdings where common beneficial ownership exists and where investors hold both FPI and ODI positions. FPIs must implement systems to ensure compliance; existing non compliant ODI positions may continue until expiry but cannot be renewed, and fresh issuance is permitted only to eligible subscribers complying with regulatory norms.

Consolidated Account Statement requirement centralises mutual fund and demat holdings reporting using PAN-based consolidation and monthly dispatch.
A regulatory requirement mandates a single Consolidated Account Statement combining mutual fund holdings and demat securities, consolidated by PAN and dispatched by depositories and AMCs/MF-RTAs. AMCs/MF-RTAs must provide common PAN data to depositories promptly; depositories must consolidate and dispatch CAS on a monthly basis when transactions occur and half-yearly otherwise. Investors may opt out by negative consent; AMCs/MF-RTAs remain accountable for mutual fund data authenticity while depositories must ensure timely dispatch, data confidentiality, and a grievance redressal mechanism.

Proprietary position limits clarified: non-bank brokers must follow higher of proportional open interest limit or specified currency caps.
The circular clarifies that the stated position limits are the total limits for stock brokers covering both proprietary and client positions, and that proprietary open position limits for non-bank stock brokers in a permitted currency pair shall be the higher of a proportionate share of total open interest or specified currency-specific caps. Exchanges and clearing corporations must implement systems, amend rules and bye-laws, disseminate the provisions to brokers and report implementation status to the regulator.

Client code modification policy permits limited waiver for genuine errors and bars treating proprietary trades as client trades.
A stock exchange may waive penalty for a client code modification if the broker produces evidence satisfactory to the exchange that the change resulted from a genuine error, limited to one waiver per broker per quarter with an explanatory restriction on reciprocal code pairs. Proprietary trades cannot be converted to client trades and exchanges must report quarterly to the regulator all client code modifications for which penalties were waived. Exchanges must discipline frequent modifiers and put in place systems, rule amendments, member communications and report implementation status to the regulator.