Bullion depository registration requires assessment of bye-laws and legal documentation aligned with the depository's objectives and consumer protection, together with an agreement with a vault manager having adequate infrastructure and standards for secure bullion storage. Operational approval requires physical verification of the bullion depository's infrastructure facilities and systems.

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. Their enforcement is governed by the applicable rules and bye-laws of the bullion exchange or bullion clearing corporation of which the relevant parties are members.

Membership qualification criteria for bullion exchanges and bullion clearing corporations must be set out in their bye-laws. These must cover organisational form, professional employee qualifications and experience, financial-strength thresholds, disqualifications, membership categories, minimum net-worth requirements, and limits on trading, clearing, or settlement activity. Bye-laws must also prescribe membership application procedures and safeguards for conflicts of interest, ethical behaviour, and member conduct.

Bullion exchanges and bullion clearing corporations must establish a framework for sharing and monitoring data, including confidential and sensitive information. The framework must define sharing methods, eligible data categories, and an escalation matrix; maintain a digital record of information shared, recipients, and reasons; use technology and periodic audits for compliance monitoring; and assign individual accountability for breaches of the data-sharing policy.

Bullion clearing corporations must maintain and publish a non-discriminatory access framework for clearing and settlement services. The framework must state the basis for access granted to shareholder bullion exchanges and the compliance requirements for non-shareholder bullion exchanges seeking access. Bullion exchanges and clearing corporations must ensure equal, unrestricted, transparent and fair access for all persons without bias towards associates or related entities. The Authority's decision on disputes concerning non-discriminatory access is final.

Utilization of profits and investments by bullion exchanges and bullion clearing corporations must conform to norms specified by the Authority. Deployment of funds or other activities require prior approval, except treasury investments made under an investment policy approved by the governing board. Activities involving fund deployment that are unrelated or not incidental to core bullion exchange or clearing corporation functions may be undertaken through a separate legal entity, subject to the Authority's approval.

Every bullion clearing corporation must maintain a Settlement Guarantee Fund to guarantee settlement of exchange trades, funded by the bullion exchange, clearing corporation, trading members and clearing members as specified. On a clearing member's settlement default, the Fund must be used to complete settlement. The corpus must cover obligations arising from such defaults, be periodically stress-tested, and remain at least the higher of the monthly stress-test minimum or the prescribed dollar-denominated threshold. Utilisation is subject to specified norms.

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 the framework specified by the Authority.

Chief Information Security Officer appointment is mandatory for every bullion exchange and bullion clearing corporation, separately from the Chief Technology Officer. The officer must oversee the entity's cyber security posture and report directly to its Managing Director or Chief Executive Officer.

Chief Legal Officer appointment 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 parent-entity legal assistance, but must appoint a Chief Legal Officer if that assistance is unavailable. Appointment may also be required for entities exceeding a specified operational size and scale. The Chief Legal Officer is responsible for legal-risk mitigation, vetting bye-laws and amendments, reviewing 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, monitor and take necessary mitigation steps for risks associated with the entity's functioning. Overall risk management rests with the Chief Risk Officer, who must submit half-yearly risk-management reports to the Authority within 90 days after the end of each half-year.

Every bullion exchange and bullion clearing corporation must appoint a Compliance Officer to monitor compliance with applicable statutory and regulatory requirements and address customer grievances. Observed non-compliance must be reported immediately and independently to the Authority. The Compliance Officer must also submit quarterly reports within 45 days after the end of each quarter in the prescribed manner.

Statutory committees must be constituted by bullion exchanges and bullion clearing corporations as specified by the Authority. The Authority prescribes the required committees and the framework for their composition, quorum and functions, creating a committee-based governance mechanism for bullion market infrastructure institutions.

Bullion exchanges and bullion clearing corporations must segregate their functions into critical operations; regulatory, legal, compliance, risk management and customer grievances; and other functions, including business development. Critical operations and regulatory, legal, compliance, risk management and customer-grievance functions must receive higher priority in resource allocation. Resource adequacy for these two priority verticals must be assessed periodically and objectively.

Governing boards, directors, committee members and key management personnel of bullion exchanges and bullion clearing corporations must comply with the prescribed Code of Conduct. Directors and key management personnel must be fit and proper persons. Known wrongdoing must be reported immediately to the governing board or the Authority. Non-compliance or conflicts of interest may lead to action, including removal or termination of appointment, following an opportunity of being heard.

Appointment, renewal, removal, termination and compensation of a managing director require prior approval of the Authority. Service is limited to terms of no more than five years, with a fresh appointment process after the first term, an aggregate maximum tenure of ten years, and a maximum age of sixty-five years. Independence restrictions prohibit specified shareholder, member and associated-entity interests or positions. Removal for non-compliance requires governing board action and prior approval, while the managing director must receive an opportunity of being heard before removal or termination.

Appointment and re-appointment of non-independent directors require prior approval of the Authority. Public interest directors require prior approval, may serve renewable three-year terms subject to performance review, and must be below seventy-five years of age. They cannot hold simultaneous board positions with specified subsidiaries or other Market Infrastructure Institutions, must disclose conflicts involving services to trading or clearing members, and are subject to a three-year cooling-off period before becoming non-independent directors or directors of the relevant subsidiary.

Governing boards of bullion exchanges and bullion clearing corporations must include non-independent directors, public interest directors and a managing director, with public interest directors at least equal in number to non-independent directors. Trading and clearing members, their associates and agents are generally barred from board membership, subject to specified exclusions. Public interest director parity is required for quorum and valid voting. Boards must collectively maintain prescribed expertise, including bullion and securities markets, finance, legal and regulatory practice, technology, risk management, management or administration.

Record-keeping obligations require bullion exchanges and bullion clearing corporations, in addition to duties under other applicable laws, to maintain and preserve all books, registers, documents and records concerning the issue or transfer of their securities for at least eight years. The obligation covers records connected with securities issuance and transfers and establishes a minimum preservation period for compliance purposes.