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.

Single registration for brokers requires one central certificate and exchange approvals for operating across multiple markets.
Single registration replaces separate registrations for each exchange or clearing corporation by issuing one certificate of registration to a broker or clearing member, while operation on additional exchanges or clearing corporations requires approval from the concerned exchange/clearing corporation; approvals are subject to due diligence including Fit and Proper criteria, rectification of past deficiencies, recovery of dues, and applicable segment-wise fees.

Government debt investment limit changes require longer maturity bonds and enable auctions to allocate remaining capacity.
The circular establishes a USD 25 billion Government Debt limit for FPIs requiring incremental investments to be in government bonds with a minimum residual maturity of three years, and a separate USD 5 billion Long Term limit for specified institutional FPIs permitting investment only in dated securities with at least one year residual maturity. An auction mechanism activates when utilisation reaches 90%, with specified auction parameters, a minimum free limit threshold, 15-day utilisation and five-day reinvestment windows, and reinstatement of on-tap investment when utilisation falls below 85%.

Mutual funds must file standardized SID/SAI/KIM, follow NAV and cut off rules, and meet governance, valuation and disclosure requirements.
Consolidated SEBI directives require mutual funds to prepare and file standardized offer documents - SID, SAI and KIM - in prescribed formats with specified filing, public availability and updation timelines; to follow uniform NAV publication and cut off timing rules; to implement governance and risk management systems including trustee and audit committee oversight, systems audits and employee trading controls; and to comply with detailed valuation, disclosure and reporting obligations for portfolio, AUM, commissions, NPAs and investor communications, with special rules for conversions, consolidations, product types and Qualified Foreign Investor access.

Investor Protection Fund claims eligibility altered; exchanges may retain residual funds pending litigation and must amend bylaws.
SEBI amends IPF/CPF guidelines: claims within three years from expiry of the specified period may be compensated from IPF/CPF if defaulter funds are inadequate and the Trust is satisfied the claimant could not earlier file; claims are ineligible where surplus funds were returned and may be borne by the exchange after scrutiny. Claims after three years may be civil disputes. Exchanges may retain residual amounts pending litigation and must amend bye laws, notify members, publish the changes, and report implementation.

Dematerialisation requirement enables shifting securities from trade for trade to rolling settlement subject to certified compliance and no other grounds.
Shift from Trade for Trade Settlement to Normal Rolling Settlement is allowed where a company has connectivity with both depositories and at least fifty percent of non promoter holdings are dematerialised, certified by the Registrar and Transfer Agent or, if no RTA exists, by a practicing Company Secretary or Chartered Accountant; exchanges must ensure no other grounds for continued TFTS exist and report actions in regular development reports.

Position limits for mutual funds in interest rate futures clarified: fund-level equals trading member limits; scheme-level equals client limits.
Position limits for cash-settled 10-year Interest Rate Futures are clarified: mutual funds at the fund level shall follow position limits applicable to trading members, and individual schemes shall follow position limits applicable to clients; the circular is issued under SEBI's statutory powers to protect investors and regulate the securities market.

Corporate governance compliance strengthened through listing amendments on independent directors, committee composition, disclosures and related party transaction controls.
Amendments to Clause 49 revise corporate governance standards for equity listed companies: limited exemptions and a six month compliance window for companies newly subject to Clause 49; deferred applicability of the woman director provision; clarified tests and tenure rules for independent directors; mandatory disclosure of appointment terms and familiarisation programmes; prescribed composition and chairing rules for the Nomination and Remuneration and Risk Management Committees; tightened related party transaction policy with omnibus approval conditions and abstention rules; defined material subsidiary thresholds and shareholder approval requirements for loss of control or major asset disposals.

Anchor investor allocation change clarifies when revised rules apply to filings and preferential issue notices.
Amendments raise the anchor investor allocation and revise preferential issue rules. The revised anchor investor sub regulation applies to issuers filing offer documents with the Registrar of Companies on or after the amendment notification date. New and revised Chapter VII preferential issue regulations apply where the general meeting notice for the special resolution on preferential allotment is issued on or after the amendment notification date. The circular clarifies these temporal applicability rules to resolve interpretive difficulties.

Grievance redressal disclosure: intermediaries must prominently display investor complaint information and escalation avenues, including exchange and online portal contacts.
Intermediaries must prominently display investor grievance information in their offices: stock brokers and depository participants per Annexure A and other intermediaries per Annexure B. The display must identify the compliance officer and senior contact, provide communication means, and direct investors to exchange/depository escalation channels, an online grievance portal and a toll free helpline. Intermediaries must implement these disclosure obligations across all offices within the prescribed compliance period; the circular invokes regulatory powers to protect investor interests and indicates publication of the circular and complaint portal details on the regulator's website.

Core settlement guarantee fund requirement ensures adequate corpus and rigorous stress testing to secure settlement obligations.
Clearing corporations must maintain a Core Settlement Guarantee Fund (Core SGF) per segment adequate to meet member default contingencies, with monthly determination of a Minimum Required Corpus (MRC) derived from daily stress tests. Contribution shares require the clearing corporation to fund at least half the MRC, the stock exchange at least one quarter, and clearing members up to one quarter pro rata by risk; the fund is managed by the Defaulter's/SGF Utilisation Committee, invested in highly liquid low risk instruments, and is subject to a prescribed multilayered default waterfall and comprehensive daily stress, liquidity, reverse stress and back testing requirements.

Disclosure formats revised under takeover regulations: updated templates require detailed promoter, PAC and diluted shareholding disclosures immediately.
SEBI prescribes revised formats under Regulation 30 requiring standardised continual disclosures of substantial shareholding and related instruments. Annexure 1's Part A mandates identification of the target, listed exchanges, persons (including PACs and promoters) and a quantitative breakdown of holdings by shares, non share voting rights, warrants, convertible securities and other instruments, reported as percentages of issued and diluted share/voting capital. Part B lists PAN, promoter/PAC status and authorised signatory details for exchange filing only and is not disseminated.