Equal, fair and transparent access to clearing and settlement services requires recognised clearing corporations to maintain and publish a non-discriminatory access framework. The framework must state the basis for shareholder stock exchange access and the requirements non-shareholder stock exchanges must satisfy to obtain access. Recognised stock exchanges and clearing corporations must provide equal, unrestricted and transparent access to all persons without favouring associates or related entities.

Utilization of profits and investments by a recognised stock exchange or recognised clearing corporation must comply with norms specified by the Authority. Deployment of funds generally requires prior approval. Treasury investments are exempt where they comply with a governing-board-approved investment policy. Activities involving fund deployment or otherwise unrelated or not incidental to market infrastructure functions may be undertaken through a separate legal entity, subject to the Authority's approval.

Recognised stock exchanges and recognised clearing corporations must maintain a Business Continuity Plan and a Disaster Recovery Site. The arrangements must preserve data and transaction integrity in the manner specified by the Authority from time to time.

Recognised stock exchanges providing co-location facilities must supervise and monitor them to maintain the integrity, security and privacy of data and trading systems. They must ensure equal and fair access for participants and publish quarterly reports on exchange-observed latencies on their websites.

A recognised stock exchange must maintain a procedure to halt trading in the market or an individual scrip in response to volatility or before major company-specific announcements. The trading-halt mechanism is intended to promote fair and orderly trading.

Recognised stock exchanges must establish detailed product-specific position-limit frameworks. Recognised clearing corporations must maintain risk management frameworks aligned with the CPMI-IOSCO Principles for Financial Market Infrastructures, adopt globally consistent margining practices, maintain sufficient capital for key risks, and conduct stress and liquidity testing. Eligible collateral includes cash, specified securities and gold, while cash and cash equivalents must constitute at least 50% of total liquid assets. Clearing corporations must also be ring-fenced from holding companies and maintain additional capital for orderly recovery or wind-down.

Trading hours for all product categories on recognised stock exchanges are determined on the basis of cost-benefit analysis, subject to a daily maximum of 23 hours and 30 minutes. Settlement must occur at least twice daily. Recognised stock exchanges and recognised clearing corporations must ensure that their risk-management systems and infrastructure remain commensurate with trading hours at all times.

Recognised clearing corporations must establish and maintain a Settlement Guarantee Fund to guarantee settlement of stock-exchange trades. Its corpus must be at least the higher of the minimum corpus determined through monthly stress-test values or USD 1 million. The fund must be used to complete settlement when a recognised clearing member defaults, remain adequate for resulting obligations, undergo periodic stress testing, and operate under a detailed framework approved by the Authority.

A recognised stock exchange must establish an Investor Education and Protection Fund in accordance with requirements specified by the Authority. This forms part of the general obligations applicable to recognised stock exchanges under the Market Infrastructure Institutions regulatory framework.

Admission of securities requires a recognised stock exchange or recognised clearing corporation to obtain the Authority's prior approval before introducing or offering settlement services for any new category of securities.

A recognised stock exchange must use a recognised clearing corporation for clearing and settlement of its trades under an agreement between them. It must also extend its arbitration mechanism to resolve disputes or claims arising from the clearing and settlement of trades executed on the exchange.

Recognised market infrastructure institutions must adopt an appropriate policy to segregate regulatory departments from other departments. This governance requirement maintains a distinct regulatory function within the institution.

Every recognised market infrastructure institution must constitute committees in accordance with requirements specified by the Authority from time to time. The committee framework remains subject to the Authority's continuing specifications.

Directors and key management personnel of recognised market infrastructure institutions must comply with the Authority-specified Code of Ethics and Code of Conduct. For non-compliance with applicable regulations or codes, or for a conflict of interest, the Authority may act on an institutional reference or on its own motion. After providing a reasonable opportunity of being heard, it may take appropriate action, including removal or termination of appointment.

Recognised market infrastructure institutions must follow prescribed governance principles and maintain boards comprising shareholder directors, public interest directors and a managing director. A public interest director must chair the board, and public interest directors must not be fewer than shareholder directors. Director appointments require prior approval, while specified members, participants, associates and agents are restricted from relevant boards. Boards must document their roles, procedures and conflict-management arrangements, and regularly review institutional and individual director performance.

Recognised market infrastructure institutions must continuously ensure that directors, key management personnel and shareholders are fit and proper persons. Listed institutions share responsibility with acquirers for shareholders holding five per cent or more, while acquirers alone bear responsibility for lower shareholdings. Fitness requires integrity, financial integrity, good character and honesty, and excludes persons affected by specified criminal convictions, regulatory recovery proceedings, insolvency, financial unsoundness, wilful default, fugitive economic offender status, or relevant regulatory restraints and orders.

Listing of securities by a recognised market infrastructure institution requires prior approval of the Authority. After obtaining approval, the institution may apply to any stock exchange for listing. Regulatory approval is therefore a precondition to initiating a listing application, while listing may be sought on any stock exchange once that condition is satisfied.

Recognised market infrastructure institutions must submit their shareholding pattern to the Authority quarterly within fifteen days after each quarter ends. Disclosures must identify the ten largest shareholders, with their number and percentage of shares, and name shareholders who acquired shares during the relevant quarter. This establishes periodic transparency over significant ownership and new share acquisitions.

Recognised market infrastructure institutions must maintain an adequate shareholding monitoring mechanism for continuous compliance with applicable shareholding conditions. Monitoring must operate at all times and requires ongoing oversight of shareholding arrangements rather than periodic or reactive verification alone.

Acquisition of equity shares or voting rights representing ten per cent or more of the paid-up equity share capital of a recognised market infrastructure institution requires prior approval. The acquirer must not have a conflict of interest. The institution must verify fit-and-proper declarations and undertakings, then forward the application with its recommendation for approval.