Trustee due diligence strengthened with mandatory disclosures, governance checks, exit rights for unitholders and stricter investment controls.
Amendments clarify trustees as the board of trustees or trustee company and impose enhanced trustee obligations including quarterly disclosures of securities dealings, comprehensive general and specific due diligence duties (selection and oversight of asset management company directors, audit and compliance reporting, contract checks, immediate reporting of developments, meetings and minutes, and a code of ethics), and protections for trustees acting in good faith. Exceptions to unitholder consent for open-ended schemes are provided subject to notice, prescribed advertising and an exit option at prevailing NAV. Investment concentration limits, derivatives-for-hedging on recognized exchanges, stricter advertising and disclosure rules, and trustee meeting and quorum requirements are also introduced.

Supersession of stock exchange council extended; administrator continues exercising management powers pending completion of elections and reconstitution.
The Securities and Exchange Board extended the period of supersession of the Magadh Stock Exchange Council of Management for an additional six months to allow completion of elections and constitution of a new council. The existing Administrator, Shri S.S. Dhanoa, will continue to exercise and perform all powers and duties of the Council for the extended period to maintain regulatory continuity and oversight under the applicable securities law framework.

Renewal of recognition under the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act granted to a regional exchange, subject to existing conditions.
SEBI exercised statutory powers to renew recognition of Magadh Stock Exchange Association, Patna for a one-year period commencing December 11, 1999 and ending December 10, 2000 in respect of contracts in securities, on the basis that renewal was in the interest of trade and the public interest and subject to conditions already prescribed for recognition of the exchange.

Capital adequacy requirement exemption: internal corporate departments performing registrar functions are excluded from the capital threshold.
The 1999 amendment inserts a proviso to regulation 7(2)(b) of the SEBI (Registrar to an Issue and Share Transfer Agents) Regulations, 1993, providing that the capital adequacy requirement shall not apply to a department or division of a body corporate performing the activities specified in sub clause (i) of clause (g) of regulation 2, thereby exempting such internal corporate divisions from the capital adequacy threshold.

Merchant banker registration as primary or satellite dealer permitted subject to RBI permission and prohibition on accepting public deposits.
The amendment allows merchant bankers registered by the Reserve Bank of India to act as primary or satellite dealers, subject to the condition that they shall not accept or hold public deposits, and permits them to carry on dealer business to the extent allowed by the Reserve Bank of India.

Corporate venture capital eligibility requires statutory formation, permission for VC activity, fit and proper status, and no disqualifying convictions or securities litigation.
Corporate applicants for registration as venture capital funds must be bodies corporate constituted under Central or State legislation, be permitted to carry on venture capital activities, and satisfy a fit and proper test. Directors or trustees must not have convictions for moral turpitude or economic offences and must not be involved in securities market litigation that could adversely affect the applicant. The amendment renumbers the existing sub clause to accommodate the new corporate applicant criteria.

Regulation of collective investment schemes establishes a statutory framework for registration, governance and compliance obligations.
Regulation of collective investment schemes establishes a regulatory framework under the Act empowering the regulator to prescribe rules governing the formation, registration, governance, disclosure and compliance obligations of collective investment schemes and to exercise supervisory oversight over their lawful operation.

Registration fee requirement for bankers to an issue updated; renewal fees due triennially with specified payment deadlines.
The amendment prescribes a registration fee payable on grant of certificate and a renewal fee payable every three years from the fourth year; both fees must be paid within fifteen days of the Board's intimation under the relevant regulations and remitted by demand draft to the Securities and Exchange Board of India payable at Mumbai or the respective regional office.

Registration fee and renewal cycle for merchant bankers set with strict payment timing and demand draft requirement.
The amendment prescribes a one-time registration fee payable at certificate grant and a recurring renewal fee payable every three years from the fourth year; both fees must be paid within fifteen days of receipt of the Board's intimation under the relevant sub-regulations and remitted by demand draft in favour of the regulatory body payable at the principal city or at the respective regional office.

Portfolio manager fees updated: registration due on grant, renewal every three years, payable by demand draft within set deadlines.
Amendment prescribes a registration fee payable at grant and a renewal fee payable every three years from the fourth year; each fee must be paid within fifteen days of the Board's intimation under the relevant regulations, and payments must be made by demand draft in favour of the Securities and Exchange Board of India payable at Mumbai or the respective regional office, effective on publication in the Official Gazette.

Underwriter registration fees updated-initial and periodic renewal payments required within a fixed short deadline after Board intimation.
Amendment prescribes a registration fee payable at grant and a renewal fee payable every three years from the fourth year; both fees must be paid within fifteen days of the Board's intimation and by demand draft in favour of the Securities and Exchange Board of India payable at Mumbai or the respective regional office, effective on publication in the Official Gazette.

Registration fees for debenture trustees fixed; renewals due triennially and fees payable promptly by demand draft upon Board intimation.
The amendment requires every debenture trustee to pay a registration fee at grant of the Board's certificate and a renewal fee to maintain registration, payable triennially from the fourth year after initial registration. The registration fee is payable within fifteen days of the Board's intimation under regulation 8; the renewal fee is payable within fifteen days of the Board's intimation disposing of the renewal application under regulation 9(1). Fees must be paid by demand draft in favour of the Securities and Exchange Board of India payable at Mumbai or the relevant regional office.

Buy-back regulations: replace 'price' with 'maximum price' and permit shareholder authorization for later board price determination.
The amendment revises the Buy-back Regulations by substituting 'share'/'shareholders'/'share certificates' with 'specified securities'/'security-holders'/'security certificates', replacing ordinance references with the Companies (Amendment) Act, requiring disclosure of a maximum price for buy-backs while allowing shareholder authorisation for the board to fix the specific price later, omitting sub-regulation (6) of Regulation 19, and substituting Schedule I clause iii to permit explanatory statements to seek shareholder authority for the board to adopt a method in Regulation 4(1) at the appropriate time.

Net-worth based exposure limit revised for stock brokers, replacing previous tiered caps with a single multiple of net worth.
The amendment replaces the prior tiered aggregate portfolio limits for stock brokers with a single provision linking allowable portfolio exposure to a fixed multiple of the broker's net worth, and omits the proviso to sub-clause (x); the regulations are named the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Depositories and Participants) (Third Amendment) Regulations, 1999, and commence on publication in the Official Gazette.

Renewal of recognition granted to a stock exchange under securities law, valid for a fixed term subject to conditions.
The regulator, satisfied that renewal serves the interest of trade and the public, renews recognition of the exchange for a three year term in respect of contracts in securities, granted under the statutory power and expressly subject to conditions that may be prescribed or imposed subsequently.

Renewal of recognition under Section 4 granted to Pune Stock Exchange, subject to prescribed or imposed conditions.
Renewal of recognition of Pune Stock Exchange Ltd is granted under Section 4 of the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956, following application under Section 3, as being in the interest of trade and the public interest. The recognition covers contracts in securities for the prescribed period and is expressly made subject to any conditions that may be prescribed or imposed hereafter.

Credit rating agency regulation established under SEBI Act powers, creating a regulatory framework for such agencies.
Establishes the SEBI (Credit Rating Agencies) Regulations, 1999, promulgated by the Securities and Exchange Board of India under the powers conferred by section 30 read with section 11 of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992, and notified in the Gazette to govern credit rating agencies.

Appointment of Auditor: Board may appoint auditors to inspect market intermediaries and recover inspection expenses.
The amendment empowers the Board to appoint an auditor to inspect or investigate the books, records, documents, infrastructures, systems, procedures and affairs of a depository, participant, beneficial owner, issuer or its agent with the same powers as inspecting officers, and makes the inspected parties subject to the same obligations; the Board may recover from those entities expenses incurred for such inspections or investigations, including auditors' fees.

Exemption from enquiry for stock brokers upon membership loss or insolvency, while preserving the right to a hearing.
Amendment inserts a proviso to Regulation 27 specifying that an enquiry need not be held where the stock broker ceases exchange membership, is declared a defaulter and not readmitted within six months, surrenders membership, is declared insolvent by a court, fails to pay prescribed registration or annual fees, voluntarily surrenders its certificate, or is wound up by court order, while preserving the requirement that no action be taken without giving the stock broker an opportunity of hearing; additionally, words requiring communication to the Central Government are omitted from regulation 29(5).

Recognition renewal under Section 4 grants continued recognition to a regional stock exchange for a fixed term.
SEBI, having considered the application for renewal made under the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, and being satisfied that renewal is in the interest of trade and the public, renews recognition of Saurashtra-Kutch Stock Exchange Limited for a fixed three-year term ending on the stated date in 2002, in respect of contracts in securities, exercising its statutory power to confer recognition.