Amendment to tribunal remuneration rules expands definitions and adds pensions, commodity derivatives and insurance to covered matters.
The amendment modifies Tribunal rules by substituting the definition clause to import meanings from the SEBI Act and designated financial statutes, and by inserting pensions, commodity derivatives and insurance into the list of matters relevant to appointment and association provisions. It also provides that the Amendment Rules come into force on publication in the Official Gazette and updates the 2003 Rules accordingly.

Listing obligations and disclosure requirements create a statutory compliance framework for listed entities and mandated disclosures.
Establishes a statutory framework imposing listing obligations and disclosure requirements on listed entities, prescribing duties for continuous and event disclosures, obligations on issuers and intermediaries to ensure timely and accurate reporting, and invoking enabling legislative powers to prescribe compliance mechanisms and enforcement.

Service of notice expanded to include electronic mail, fax, courier and newspaper publication where affixation is impracticable.
Amendment expands service of notice to include fax, electronic mail, courier and speed post with acknowledgement; fax must note transmission and page count for annexures; electronic mail must be digitally signed and bouncing will not amount to valid service. If notice cannot be affixed on the outer door, service may be effected by publishing the notice in at least two newspapers: an English national daily and a widely circulated regional language newspaper where the person was last known to reside, carry on business or personally work for gain.

Service of notices expanded to include fax, digitally signed email and courier, with newspaper publication where personal service fails.
Rule 7 is amended to allow notices to be sent by fax, electronic mail (digitally signed), courier, or speed post with acknowledgement due; a fax must note the number of pages where annexures exist and an emailed notice must be digitally signed, with bouncing of the email not constituting valid service. If notice cannot be affixed on the outer door, it may be published in at least two newspapers-one nationwide English daily and one regional language paper where the person was last known to reside or work.

Mandatory ASBA facility for public issues strengthens subscription channels and updates intermediary roles.
The regulations add registrar to issue and share transfer agents, depository participants and stock brokers into multiple issue-related provisions; mandate the ASBA facility for public issues and for certain rights-issue scenarios with specified investor-category limitations; designate stock brokers, SCSBs, registrars and depository participants as bidding/collection centres; broaden intermediary references to "SEBI registered intermediaries"; tighten lead merchant bankers' post-issue reporting timelines; omit Part A of Schedule XVI and adjust cross-references; and require disclosure of website links listing relevant intermediaries.

Investment classification: Category I and II AIF investments on institutional trading platforms treated as unlisted securities under amended AIF regulations.
The amendment provides that investments by Category I and Category II Alternative Investment Funds in shares of entities listed on an institutional trading platform after the commencement of the specified ICDR amendment shall be deemed to be investments in 'unlisted securities' for purposes of the AIF regulations. The regulation takes effect on publication in the Official Gazette.

Delisting scope narrowed: regulations exclude securities listed without public issue on institutional trading platforms from applicability.
The amendment substitutes the proviso to regulation 3(1) to provide that the Delisting Regulations shall not apply to securities listed without making a public issue on the institutional trading platform of a recognised stock exchange, thereby excluding such securities from the delisting regime and taking effect on publication in the Official Gazette.

Scope of takeover regulations narrowed: acquisitions in companies listed without public issue on institutional trading platforms excluded.
The substituted proviso to regulation 1(3) provides that the regulations shall not apply to direct and indirect acquisition of shares, voting rights, or control over a company listed without making a public issue on the institutional trading platform of a recognized stock exchange, thereby exempting such acquisitions from the Substantial Acquisition and Takeovers Regulations.

Institutional trading platform listing: new regime setting eligibility, allocation and lock-in rules for targeted listings.
The amendment creates Chapter XC establishing an institutional trading platform regime: defining the platform and institutional investors, setting eligibility criteria based on pre-issue institutional holding, and capping post-issue concentration. It prescribes separate procedures for listing without a public issue-requiring draft information document filing, in-principle exchange approval, waivers of public-offer provisions and minimum public shareholding-and for public-issue listings-specifying application size, allotment allocations between institutional and non-institutional investors, and disclosure obligations. Rules on lock-in, trading lot, exit, migration to main board, fees and disclosure formats are also specified.

Eligibility criteria for public and rights issues tightened; promoters' mandatory rights subscription and fund placement rules enforced.
Amendments update issuer eligibility by reallocating monetary thresholds for public and rights issues, excluding sole monetary fines by exchanges from automatic ineligibility, adding three-year ineligibility for recent Board settlements, imposing mandatory promoter subscription to rights entitlements with limited renunciation, requiring no disciplinary trading suspension in the prior three years, mandating a minimum delivery-based turnover over the preceding six months, prohibiting conflicts of interest between lead merchant bankers and issuers, and prescribing that interim issue proceeds be kept only in scheduled commercial banks and certain funds in banks rated at least A by an international agency.

Appointment of Part Time Member to securities regulator under statutory authority, with tenure from assumption of charge.
Appointment of Shri Arun P. Sathe as a Part Time Member of the Securities and Exchange Board of India under Section 4(1)(d) of the SEBI Act, 1992 read with the service rules, with a tenure of three years from assumption of charge or until further orders, effected by Central Government notification dated 28 July 2015.

Municipal debt issuance framework enables public issue, listing and trading of municipal debt under SEBI regulation for municipalities
Establishes a regulatory framework enabling municipalities to undertake public issues of debt securities and to have those securities listed and traded on regulated markets, deriving authority from the SEBI Act and addressing procedural and compliance dimensions necessary for issuance and market participation.

Designation of Special Court under securities and depository laws establishes the forum to hear offences and enforcement proceedings.
The Central Government, invoking section 26A of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, section 26A of the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act and section 22C of the Depositories Act, designates Principal District and Sessions Court, Chennai as the Special Court to exercise jurisdiction and adjudicatory functions under those statutes.

Designation of Special Court: a trial court assigned as the forum for enforcement under securities and depository laws.
Central Government notification designates a specific trial court in Mumbai as the Designated Court and as the Special Court for enforcement under the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, and the Depositories Act, exercising the statutory powers cited and thereby allocating jurisdiction for prosecution and adjudication under those statutes.

Service of notice expanded to include fax, email, courier, speed post and newspaper publication in adjudication procedure.
Amendment to rule 7 adds fax, electronic mail, courier and speed post with acknowledgement due as modes of service of notice, requires faxed notices to note transmission and page count for annexures, mandates digital signature for electronic mail and rules that bounced emails do not constitute valid service, and permits newspaper publication when notices cannot be affixed on the outer door, requiring one nationwide English daily and one widely circulated regional language paper.

Category I foreign portfolio investor inclusion expands eligibility and exempts regulated broad based FPI funds from certain mutual fund requirements.
Amendments add Category I foreign portfolio investors to regulation 24(b) and provide that requirements of that clause will not apply where funds managed are of Category I and/or Category II foreign portfolio investors that are appropriately regulated, broad based funds; the Explanation is adjusted to exclude the proviso to clause (vi) of the first proviso to clause (b).

Conversion of debt into equity under Strategic Debt Restructuring now counts as acquisition, subject to ICDR compliance.
The amendment treats conversion of debt into equity under the Strategic Debt Restructuring scheme as acquisition of equity shares by a consortium of banks, financial institutions and other secured lenders, and makes such acquisitions subject to compliance with the conditions specified in sub regulation (5) or (6) of regulation 70 of the SEBI (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2009.

Strategic debt restructuring exemption allows preferential equity issuance to bank consortium on debt conversion subject to valuation, lock in and compliance.
Conversion of debt into equity under a strategic debt restructuring scheme is excluded from the Chapter's preferential issue requirements when equity is allotted to a consortium of banks and financial institutions pursuant to RBI guidelines, provided the conversion price follows RBI guidance and is not below face value, is certified by two independent qualified valuers, the allotted shares are locked in for one year (with transferee continuation of lock in permitted for transfers made to transfer control), and Companies Act requirements including a special resolution are met; other secured lenders joining the scheme are similarly covered.

Declaration of assets and liabilities required under SEBI employee rules with specified initial, transitional and annual filing timelines.
Amendment substitutes regulation 66(1) to require every employee to make a declaration of assets and liabilities as per specified subsections of section 44 of the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013: an initial declaration within thirty days of joining, transitional disclosure for those in service at commencement of the Act, and an annual return of assets and liabilities to be filed by 31st July each year.

Special Court designation under securities laws assigns a specific judicial forum for statutory adjudication and enforcement.
The Central Government designates the 39th Sessions Court, City Civil Court, Greater Mumbai as a Special Court to exercise jurisdiction under the Securities and Exchange Board Act, the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act and the Depositories Act, by executive notification identifying the judicial forum authorized to hear enforcement and adjudicatory matters under those statutes.