The Securities and Exchange Board of India approved a broad set of market and conduct reforms at its board meeting, centered on easier transmission of securities to heirs of deceased investors, the return of open-market buybacks through stock exchanges, and faster product launches for funds. The package also opens a limited intraday borrowing facility for mutual funds, updates rules for securitised debt and municipal bonds, transfers the Social Stock Exchange capacity-building fund to a new Section 8 company, and advances SEBI’s internal governance framework. For investor claims, SEBI introduced Quick Transmission Processing for small-value transmissions up to INR 10,000 for physical holdings and INR 30,000 for dematerialised holdings, while doubling simplified-documentation limits to INR 1 million for physical holdings per listed company and INR 3 million for dematerialised holdings per beneficial owner. It also removed the PAN requirement and the mandatory probate of a will, allowed a combined affidavit-cum-No Objection Certificate, accepted QR-coded death certificates, and added verification channels for foreign death certificates. For buybacks, open-market repurchases through stock exchanges will return from Aug. 1, 2026, must close within 66 working days, and must deploy at least 40% of earmarked funds in the first half of the offer period. Separate trading-window and purchaser-identity display requirements will be dropped, promoter and associate holdings will be frozen at the ISIN level during the buyback, minimum public shareholding rules will apply, and appointing a merchant banker will become optional. Mutual funds will be allowed to use intraday borrowing to manage settlement-timing mismatches up to receivables sighted during the day, subject to same-day repayment, board-approved policies and a ban on using the facility as leverage. Under the new GARUDA mechanism, most non-accredited investor AIF schemes can launch within 10 working days, while accredited-investor-only schemes and angel funds can launch immediately after registration or placement memorandum filing without routing the memorandum through a merchant banker. In debt markets, SEBI aligned listed securitisation rules more closely with the Reserve Bank of India framework by allowing single-asset securitisations by RBI-regulated originators, shifting periodic disclosure duties to servicers, refining SPDE trustee board rules and allowing SEBI to replace a suspended or deregistered trustee. Municipal debt changes permit refinancing of project debt, add a clearer disclosure and operating framework for pooled finance vehicles, allow targeted retail incentives and private placement face values of INR 100,000 or INR 10,000 in specified cases, and extend reporting deadlines for half-year and annual results to 60 and 90 days. The board also selected SME capital raising in securities markets for an evidence-based regulatory review, approved transfer of the Social Stock Exchange Capacity Building Fund from NABARD to the new Social Stock Exchange Capacity Building Foundation, and adopted a new Code of Conduct for SEBI members alongside amendments to employee service rules. The exchange buyback route takes effect on Aug. 1, 2026, and the final conduct code and employee rule changes will be published after completion of the required process.

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