Access to bullion depository services is available to any person directly or through a participant, subject to entering into an agreement with a bullion depository. The agreement must be in the form specified by the applicable bye-laws.

A bullion depository may, where the Authority so desires, enter into an agreement appointing one or more participants as its agents. The agreement must be in the form specified in the bullion depository's bye-laws.

Registration of a bullion depository requires additional safeguards, including bye-laws and legal documentation aligned with its objectives and consumer protection. The depository must have an agreement with a vault manager possessing the infrastructure and standards necessary for safe bullion storage. Before approving commencement of operations, the Authority physically verifies the infrastructure facilities and systems established by the bullion depository.

Recognition, commencement of business, net worth, ownership and governance requirements applicable to depositories under the IFSCA (Market Infrastructure Institutions) Regulations, 2021 apply, mutatis mutandis, to bullion depositories. Those established depository standards are thereby adapted to regulate bullion depositories' recognition, operational commencement, financial strength, ownership structure and governance arrangements within the bullion market framework.

Contracts between bullion exchange members, bullion clearing members and consumers must be in writing. Enforcement is governed by the applicable rules and bye-laws of the relevant bullion exchange or bullion clearing corporation.

Membership qualification criteria for a bullion exchange or bullion clearing corporation must be set out in bye-laws. These must cover organisational structure, professional employees' qualifications and experience, financial-strength thresholds, minimum net-worth requirements, disqualifications, membership categories, and limits on trading, clearing, or settlement activity. The framework must also prescribe membership application procedures and measures to prevent conflicts of interest and promote ethical conduct.

Every bullion exchange and bullion clearing corporation must establish a framework governing the sharing and monitoring of confidential and sensitive data. The framework must specify sharing methods, permitted data types, and an escalation matrix. It must maintain a digital database of information shared, recipients, and reasons for sharing, supported by technology-enabled monitoring and periodic compliance audits. Individual accountability must be assigned for breaches of the data-sharing policy.

Bullion clearing corporations must establish and publish a policy framework for non-discriminatory clearing and settlement access for shareholder and non-shareholder bullion exchanges. The framework must specify the basis for shareholder access and the compliance requirements for non-shareholder access. Bullion exchanges and clearing corporations must provide equal, unrestricted, transparent and fair access to all persons without bias toward associates or related entities. Non-discriminatory access issues are conclusively determined by the Authority.

Utilization of profits and investments by a bullion exchange and bullion clearing corporation must comply with norms specified by the Authority. Fund deployment or other activities require prior approval, except treasury investments made under a governing-board-approved investment policy. Unrelated or non-incidental fund-deployment activities may be undertaken through a separate legal entity, subject to the Authority's approval.

Settlement Guarantee Fund arrangements require every bullion clearing corporation to maintain a fund guaranteeing settlement of bullion-exchange trades. Contributions must be made by the bullion exchange, clearing corporation, trading members and clearing members as specified by the Authority. The Fund is used to complete settlement upon a clearing member's default. Its corpus must be sufficient to meet default-related obligations, periodically stress tested, and maintained at least at the higher of the monthly stress-test requirement or USD 1 million.

Every bullion exchange must establish a Consumer Education and Protection Fund. The fund is intended to promote consumer education and provide compensation to consumers where bullion trading members default, in accordance with requirements specified by the Authority.

Bullion exchanges and bullion clearing corporations must appoint a Chief Information Security Officer separately from the Chief Technology Officer. The Chief Information Security Officer oversees the entity's cyber security posture and reports directly to the Managing Director or Chief Executive Officer.

Appointment of a Chief Legal Officer is mandatory for bullion exchanges and bullion clearing corporations that are not subsidiaries or joint ventures of market infrastructure institutions. Subsidiaries and joint ventures may rely on parental legal assistance, but must appoint a Chief Legal Officer if that assistance is unavailable. The Authority may require appointment based on operational size and scale. The Chief Legal Officer mitigates legal risk by vetting bye-laws, amendments, cross-border legal documents, and undertaking functions assigned by the governing board or the Authority.

Chief Risk Officer appointment is mandatory for every bullion exchange and bullion clearing corporation. The officer must identify and monitor operational risks, initiate necessary mitigation measures, oversee overall risk management, and submit a half-yearly risk-management report to the Authority within 90 days after each half-year ends.

Every bullion exchange and bullion clearing corporation must appoint a Compliance Officer to monitor compliance with applicable legal and regulatory requirements and redress customer grievances. The Compliance Officer must independently and immediately report observed non-compliance to the Authority and submit a quarterly non-compliance report within 45 days after each quarter ends, in the prescribed manner.

Statutory committees must be constituted by every bullion exchange and bullion clearing corporation in accordance with specifications issued by the Authority. The Authority determines which committees are required and prescribes their composition, quorum and functions. Committee establishment and operation remain subject to the specified framework governing membership structure, quorum requirements and assigned functions.

Segregation of functions requires bullion exchanges and bullion clearing corporations to classify activities into critical operations; regulatory, legal, compliance, risk management and customer-grievance functions; and other functions, including business development. The first two verticals must receive priority in resource allocation over other functions, and their resource adequacy must be assessed periodically and objectively.

Code of Conduct compliance is mandatory for the governing board, directors, committee members and key management personnel of bullion exchanges and bullion clearing corporations. Directors and key management personnel must satisfy fit and proper person requirements, while persons aware of wrongdoing must immediately report it to the governing board or the Authority. Non-compliance or conflicts of interest may result in appropriate action, including removal or termination of appointment, subject to an opportunity of being heard.

Prior approval of the Authority governs the appointment, renewal, removal or termination of a managing director, including compensation and any change to compensation terms. Appointments are limited to five years per term, require a fresh process after the first term, and cannot exceed ten years in total or continue beyond sixty-five years of age. Shareholding, member-related and concurrent-position conflicts are prohibited. Removal for non-compliance requires prior Authority approval, while Authority-initiated removal or termination requires an opportunity of being heard.

Appointments and reappointments of non-independent directors, and appointments of public interest directors, to bullion exchange and bullion clearing corporation governing boards require prior approval of the Authority. Public interest directors have a renewable three-year term subject to performance review and an age-based eligibility limit. They are subject to restrictions on concurrent board positions, conflict disclosure obligations, and a three-year cooling-off period before becoming non-independent directors or joining the relevant subsidiary's board. Appointment applications must follow the prescribed Schedule I procedure.