TechFin and ancillary-service registration governs IFSC entry, governance, eligible clients, currency, reporting, and supervisory compliance.
TechFin and Ancillary Service Providers must obtain registration before operating in an IFSC and may provide only permitted support and technology services that facilitate specified financial services. Applicants must meet prescribed legal-form, jurisdictional and fit-and-proper requirements, complete the application process, and report material changes. Providers must appoint required officers, serve eligible Intermediaries or Service Recipients, operate principally in Specified Foreign Currency, maintain records and submit required reports. The Authority may seek information, inspect operations, relax requirements on recorded reasons, and take action for contraventions after written submissions.

KYC data governance requires secure, interoperable records, independent validation, client consent controls, and regulated entity accountability.
Each KRA must establish interoperable electronic connectivity with other IFSC KRAs and may connect with KRAs registered with other financial-sector regulators, while maintaining secure data-transmission links with Regulated Entities. It must store, safeguard and retrieve KYC documents, independently validate uploaded records, disseminate client updates to service-using intermediaries, maintain audit trails, and preserve data integrity, backups, controls and periodic system audits. Client data access must be limited to a Regulated Entity's own clients and subject to client consent, with compliance required under applicable data-protection law.

Registration of capital market intermediaries: new IFSC rules mandate eligibility, net worth, conduct and supervisory compliance.
These regulations create a comprehensive IFSC framework requiring registration of specified capital market intermediaries, prescribe applicant eligibility including net worth and fit and proper criteria, mandate qualification and experience norms for principal and compliance officers, set ongoing obligations (records retention, codes of conduct, audits, business continuity, cyber security and risk management), enumerate category specific duties for intermediaries including disclosure and conflict management, and empower the Authority with inspection and enforcement tools along with transitional and repeal provisions.

Fund management registration and investor safeguards govern IFSC schemes, ETFs, portfolio services, and investment trusts.
Fund management in an International Financial Services Centre requires prior registration as a Fund Management Entity under Authorised, Non-Retail, or Retail categories. Applicants must meet legal-form, net-worth, infrastructure, governance, fit-and-proper, and key-personnel requirements. The framework governs venture capital, restricted, retail, special situation, and family investment schemes; ETFs; portfolio management services; and investment trusts. It imposes scheme-specific investor eligibility, investment, leverage, valuation, disclosure, contribution, custody, and governance obligations, supported by fair valuation, asset segregation, conflict-management, AML/CFT, record-keeping, cyber-resilience, risk-management, and investor-protection duties.

Bullion market regulation establishes recognition, governance, custody, settlement, and consumer-protection standards for international financial-centre market infrastructure.
Recognition of bullion exchanges and bullion clearing corporations requires demutualised companies with fit-and-proper management and shareholders, compliant ownership and governance structures, prescribed net worth, and adequate infrastructure. Exchanges must provide screen-based trading, real-time surveillance, member regulation, grievance redressal and continuity systems. Clearing corporations must maintain risk-management, netting, novation, settlement-guarantee, member-connectivity and orderly wind-down arrangements. Every exchange must use a bullion clearing corporation for clearing and settlement, and settlement obligations determined under approved bye-laws are final, irrevocable and binding.

Regulatory numbering and cross-reference corrections align factor registration and receivables assignment provisions within the applicable framework.
The Regulations are corrected to standardise the numbering of sub-regulations and to renumber regulations 6, 7 and 8 as regulations 5, 6 and 7. Internal references are also corrected, including the substitution of clause 51 for clause 50, clause (sa) for sub-section (sa), sub-regulation (1) for sub-regulation (i), and clauses (a) and (b) of sub-regulation (1) for clauses (i)(a) and (i)(b).

Unified Pension Scheme option creates assured payouts with individual and pooled corpuses under NPS, subject to qualifying service and transfers.
Introduction of a Unified Pension Scheme option within the National Pension System for Central Government employees covered by NPS, effective 1 April 2025. The scheme provides Assured Payout on superannuation after specified qualifying service thresholds, excludes removal/dismissal/resignation, and combines an individual corpus (employee 10% + matching employer 10%) with a Government-funded pool corpus (additional contribution) to support payouts. Employees may choose investment options for the individual corpus under PFRDA regulation; a benchmark corpus computed by PFRDA determines transfers to the pool corpus at retirement to authorise assured payouts, with proportional payouts for shortfalls and specified family, dearness relief and lump sum provisions.

Factoring registration requires eligibility, operational reporting, and prompt central filing of trade receivables assignments in financial centres.
Registration of Factors and filing of trade-receivables assignments within International Financial Services Centres are governed through a certification and reporting framework. A Factor seeking to commence factoring business must apply for a certificate of registration, unless exempt under the Factoring Regulation Act. Trade receivables financed through a Trade Receivables Discounting System must be filed with the Central Registry by the concerned system on behalf of the Factor within ten days from the assignment or its satisfaction.

Market infrastructure governance requires segregated core functions, independent oversight, stronger risk leadership, and orderly clearing arrangements.
Recognised market infrastructure institutions must adopt conduct codes, constitute prescribed committees, and segregate critical operations from regulatory, legal, compliance, risk-management and investor-grievance functions. The latter functions and personnel must be ring-fenced. Key management personnel compensation requires a board-approved policy with malus and clawback arrangements. Institutions must appoint a chief risk officer and chief information security officer; chief legal officer requirements apply according to institutional structure, parent support and regulatory direction. Clearing corporations must maintain bye-law-based orderly winding-down arrangements addressing settlement, position transfer or cessation, and transfer of member collateral, deposits, margins and other assets.

Micro loan definition expanded under CGFMU, extending guarantee coverage to PMMY bands and PMJDY overdraft facilities.
Amendments expand CGFMU coverage by redefining Micro Loan to align with MUDRA categories and explicitly include PMJDY overdraft facilities, and by broadening the definition of Eligible borrower to cover micro units, JLG members and qualifying Self Help Groups within the specified PMMY loan limit; guarantee cover is available where Member Lending Institutions apply per Fund procedures, with the Fund able to publish lists of covered or excluded institutions or schemes.

Reinsurance Application Category: Applicants must choose their participation category for DTA reinsurance when filing for registration.
Insurance-business registration is amended by removing references to scheduled forms and permitting forms to be specified by the Authority. Forms A, B, C and D in the First Schedule and Forms A and B in the Fourth Schedule are omitted. Reinsurance applicants must opt, when applying, for the category through which they intend to participate in reinsurance business emanating from the DTA.

Payment system authorisation in international financial centres requires conditional approval, infrastructure compliance, reporting, and continuing operational oversight.
Payment-system operations in International Financial Services Centres require an application for authorisation, which may be preceded by in-principle approval but remains subject to fulfilment of statutory and additional conditions. An Authorisation Certificate takes effect from the specified date and may be conditioned by further requirements or a security deposit. System Providers must comply on an ongoing basis with applicable financial market infrastructure principles and submit required returns, audited annual financial statements, and auditor's reports.

Unit-linked insurance investment limits now govern segregated funds and retained premiums invested in DTA under prescribed investment patterns.
The amendments require every IIO to keep unit-linked business funds invested in accordance with policyholder-selected patterns, where linked asset categories are marketable and readily realisable. Individual segregated funds are subject to exposure ceilings for a single entity, the IIO's own group, another group, and an industrial sector. Passive or index-based mutual fund and exchange traded fund exposures receive deferred application under specified fund-age or assets-under-management triggers. Retained premium invested in DTA under the stipulated reinsurance condition must follow the separate admissible investment pattern, subject to prevailing regulatory limits.

Protected-system designation restricts access to critical telecommunications infrastructure to personnel holding written authorisation for defined operational and oversight purposes.
PowerTel's critical information infrastructure, including specified network, security, authentication, directory, domain name and anti-DDoS resources and associated dependencies, is declared protected systems under Section 70 of the Information Technology Act, 2000. Access requires written authorisation by PowerTel and may be granted to designated employees, need-based managed service provider or vendor personnel, and consultants, regulators, government officials, auditors and stakeholders on a case-by-case basis.

IFSC listing framework governs public offers, SPACs, debt securities, ESG disclosures and continuing listing obligations.
IFSC listing framework regulates public offers, follow-on public offers, secondary listings and other routes for specified securities, depository receipts, debt securities and permitted financial products. Issuers must satisfy eligibility, dematerialisation, foreign-currency denomination and material-disclosure requirements. Public offers require lead-manager due diligence, exchange in-principle approval, an offer document, prescribed issue processes and post-issue reporting. Listed entities must maintain compliance arrangements and provide timely material, financial, governance and specialised disclosures for depository receipts, debt securities and ESG-labelled debt securities.

Meeting quorum and confidentiality rules allow reduced-member quorum, regulate invitees, and restrict public disclosures about deliberations and decisions.
Meeting quorum rules permit at least two members to constitute a quorum where the Authority's total strength is below four, subject to the presence of at least one ex-officio member. The Chairperson may invite persons for advice or consultation after prior intimation to other members. Information concerning the Authority's functioning and meeting decisions may not be disclosed to the press or other public media by members, except by the Chairperson or a specifically authorised person.

Adjudication process for geographical indications establishes electronic complaint, inquiry, and appeal procedures with timeframes and penalties.
The rules provide an electronic procedure for complaints, inquiries and appeals under the Geographical Indications Act: any person may file an electronic complaint; the adjudicating officer must issue an electronic show cause notice specifying the alleged contravention, allow a minimum response period, require appearance if inquiry is warranted, permit counter statements and evidence in prescribed forms, compel witness attendance, and may proceed in absence of a respondent. Orders must be reasoned, dated and signed, supplied free to parties, and proceedings completed ordinarily within three months; appeals may be filed electronically and disposed of with a reasoned order.

Permitted banking currencies expand to include Swedish, Norwegian and Danish krone, alongside the New Zealand dollar.
The International Financial Services Centres Authority (Banking) (Amendment) Regulations, 2024 amend the First Schedule to the International Financial Services Centres Authority (Banking) Regulations, 2020 by adding Swedish Krone, Norwegian Krone, New Zealand Dollar and Danish Krone to the listed currencies. The amendment took effect upon publication in the Official Gazette.

IFSC BATF service registration requires fit-and-proper governance, non-resident clients, operational safeguards, and independent annual compliance certification.
BATF Services in an IFSC require registration, except for specified Ancillary Service Providers subject to transitional conditions. Applicants must be established as a company or limited liability partnership in the IFSC, maintain fit-and-proper status, and serve only eligible non-resident recipients. Safeguarding conditions prohibit business splitting, reconstruction or reorganisation involving existing Indian operations, asset transfers from Indian group entities, and transfer or replacement of existing group-entity contracts. Providers must appoint qualified IFSC-based Principal and Compliance Officers, operate in specified foreign currency, undertake prescribed reporting, and obtain annual independent compliance certification.

Escrow services now cover payment providers holding transaction funds in accounts with IFSC banking units or companies.
Escrow service is redefined as a service supplied by a payment service provider under an agreement, through which money is held in an escrow account maintained with an IFSC Banking Unit or an IFSC Banking Company for one or more parties completing a transaction. The definition links the provider's holding of money to the transaction-completion process and confines the escrow account to specified IFSC banking arrangements.