Exchange recognition renewal permits Jaipur Stock Exchange to operate for a further year in respect of contracts in securities.
SEBI, having considered the renewal application under the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act and rules, exercised its Section 4 powers to grant Jaipur Stock Exchange Limited recognition in respect of contracts in securities for a further one-year period commencing on 9 January 1998 and ending on 8 January 1999, being satisfied that renewal was in the interest of trade and the public interest.

Recognition renewal of Vadodara Stock Exchange under securities contracts law grants statutory extension after regulatory satisfaction.
Recognition is granted to Vadodara Stock Exchange Limited to deal in contracts in securities following its statutory renewal application and compliance with the relevant procedural rule, the regulator being satisfied that renewal served the interests of trade and the public, and issuing a time bound three year recognition order under its statutory powers.

Corrigendum to Merchant Bankers Regulations corrects terminology to public financial institution and fixes form reference sequencing.
Corrigendum substitutes the term "Public Financial Institution" for "Financial Institution" in para 2(e), new regulation 13A, and corrects para 2(g)(i) in Form B by changing the figures "II/III/V" to "II/III/IV", thereby rectifying terminology and cross reference errors in the Merchant Bankers amendment.

Merchant banker business restriction limits non bank firms to securities market activities and requires separate registrations for underwriter and portfolio manager.
Amendments confine applications under regulation 3 to the principal activity and mandate separate SEBI registration for underwriters and portfolio managers; regulation 6 now requires applicants to be a body corporate (excluding specified non banking financial companies) and to be fit and proper. Regulations 8 and 9 are simplified by deleting category intimations and certain sub regulations, and Forms in Schedule I are adjusted to remove multi category fields. New regulation 13A prohibits merchant bankers, except banks and public financial institutions, from carrying on businesses outside the securities market, with a limited transitional exception for pre existing contracts.

Stock exchange recognition renewed for Magadh Stock Exchange Association, imposing statutory conditions under the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act.
Recognition is granted to the Magadh Stock Exchange Association, Patna, under section 4 of the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956, following an application under section 3, authorising contracts in securities for a one year period commencing in December 1997 and ending in December 1998, subject to conditions as may be prescribed or imposed thereafter.

Fit and proper test introduced for FII applicants; large investors must use dematerialised settlement after the specified date.
The amendment inserts a fit and proper requirement into regulation 6 and into regulation 13(1) as an element of applicant eligibility, and mandates that FIIs and sub accounts meeting a prescribed size threshold must, subject to Board directions, settle transactions entered on or after January 15, 1998 only through dematerialised securities.

Supersession of exchange council for systemic mismanagement, with appointment of an administrator to restore governance and protect investors.
Supersession of the Council of Management of the Magadh Stock Exchange was ordered due to systemic mismanagement, governance failures, noncompliance with regulatory directives, breakdown of internal administration, delayed payouts, large unsettled bad delivery liabilities and absence of surveillance. Following issuance of a show-cause notice and opportunities for hearing-during which several members admitted the factual position or failed to respond-the regulator exercised statutory powers to supersede the council for a limited period and appointed an administrator to perform all powers and duties of the council and to take necessary assistance to restore regulatory compliance and protect investor interests.

Annual report filing period extended under securities regulations, increasing prescribed submission time for annual reports.
The Central Government, under statutory authority, issues the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Annual Report) Amendment Rules, 1997, substituting the words "sixty days" with the words "ninety days" in rule 3, sub rule (2) of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Annual Report) Rules, 1994, thereby altering the prescribed submission period in that sub rule.

Auditor appointment powers: Board may appoint auditors with inspecting powers and recover inspection expenses from custodians or applicants.
SEBI inserts Regulation 25A permitting the Board to appoint an auditor with the same powers as an inspecting officer under Regulation 21 and imposing on applicants, custodians and their personnel the obligations set out in Regulation 23. Regulation 25B entitles the Board to recover from the custodian or applicant the expenses of such inspections or investigations, including auditor fees.

Registrar conflict of interest barred when registrar is an associate of the issuer, preventing appointment on that issue.
Regulation 13A bars a registrar to an issue from acting for any securities issue if the registrar and the issuing body corporate are associates, defined by direct or indirect control of not less than ten percent of voting power or by the registrar or any of his relatives being a director of the other; 'relative' has the meaning given in the Companies Act.

Decision timeframe for debenture trustee applications: Board must decide within three months and notify applicants.
The amendment inserts a new sub-rule under rule 3 requiring the Board to take a decision on an application for recognition as a debenture trustee within three months of receipt of all information necessary for consideration, and to dispatch an intimation of that decision to the applicant.

Pledge creation procedure requires participant-mediated application and depository registration, with pledgee concurrence needed for cancellations and transfers blocked without consent.
Regulation 29 is amended to exempt depositories that are issuers from the agreement requirement. Regulation 58 is replaced to establish procedures for creating, recording, notifying and cancelling pledge and hypothecation: applications must be made by the beneficial owner through the participant, participants must note and forward applications, the depository records pledges after pledgee confirmation and notifies relevant participants, cancellations require pledgee concurrence, the pledgee may be registered as beneficial owner on invocation, hypothecation follows the same procedure with the depository obtaining the hypothecator's prior concurrence, and transfers are barred without pledgee or hypothecatee consent.

Corrigendum to mutual funds regulations updates statutory year references and appends a footnote clarifying the principal regulation citation.
Corrigendum directs that occurrences of the year '1996' in the SEBI (Mutual Funds) Amendment Regulations short title and paragraph 1(i) be read as '1997', and mandates appending a footnote citing the principal SEBI Mutual Funds Regulations published in the Gazette of India.

Public representative continuity required: nominees must meet integrity and competence criteria and serve until successors are appointed.
The Board substituted the exchange's Article to require that nominated Public Representatives be persons of integrity, with professional competence and market-related experience and local public eminence, subject to prior regulatory approval, and that such public representatives shall continue to hold office until new public representatives are appointed in their place, thereby preventing gaps in public representation on the Governing Board and statutory committees.

Presiding Officer remuneration and service terms set pay, allowances, leave, pension and travel entitlements under tribunal rules.
Rules prescribe salary parity for the Presiding Officer with an Additional Secretary subject to reduction by retirement benefits, entitlement to dearness and city compensatory allowances at Group A rates, leave and travel entitlements equivalent to Group A officers of comparable pay, travel and conveyance facilities including staff car and petrol allotment, medical treatment under central schemes, pension and provident fund treatment depending on prior service, and special parity provisions for serving or retired High Court judges; residual matters and relaxations rest with the Central Government.

Salaries and allowances for tribunal officers established, prescribing conditions of service and commencement of rules.
Establishes rules governing salaries and allowances and other conditions of service for officers and employees of the Securities Appellate Tribunal, promulgated by the Central Government under statutory authority, formally titled the Securities Appellate Tribunal (Salaries and allowances and other conditions of service of the officers and employees) Rules, 1997, and brought into force by notification with administrative file identification and signature.

Securities Appellate Tribunal established to hear appeals under section 15T with nationwide jurisdiction.
Central Government notification establishes a Securities Appellate Tribunal at Mumbai under section 15K of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992, empowering it to hear appeals under section 15T of the Act; the instrument specifies the Tribunal's subject-matter jurisdiction and declares its territorial jurisdiction to extend to the whole of India.

Appointment of Presiding Officer under SEBI Act establishes a five-year term subject to statutory age limit upon assumption of office.
The Central Government, invoking section 15L read with section 15N of the SEBI Act, appoints a senior central government legal officer as Presiding Officer of the Securities Appellate Tribunal; the appointment is for a five-year term from entry upon office but terminates earlier on attainment of the sixty-five years age limit, with commencement tied to assumption of office.

Transactions in government securities now subject to RBI-specified manner under SEBI FII regulations amendment, effective upon publication.
An amendment to the SEBI (Foreign Institutional Investors) Regulations, 1995 inserts a proviso to Regulation 15(3)(c) requiring that transactions in government securities by foreign institutional investors be carried out in the manner specified by the Reserve Bank of India; the amendment takes effect upon publication in the Official Gazette under SEBI's power in section 30(1) of the SEBI Act, 1992.

Foreign ownership cap in depositories tightened; new participant standards, dematerialisation agreement and pledge decision timelines introduced.
Regulatory amendments align terminology with the Depositories Act, cap foreign entity equity in depositories at 20% with a definition based on majority non Indian ownership, expand participant eligibility to include clearing houses and qualifying non banking finance companies, require issuers to sign agreements enabling dematerialisation, mandate daily beneficial holdings details, and impose a deadline of fifteen days for depositories to approve or disapprove pledge or hypothecation applications following any investigation.