SEBI Issues New Comprehensive Guidelines For Custodians, Mandates Segregation Of Activities

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on Wednesday issued a circular setting out comprehensive guidelines for custodians, pursuant to amendments to the SEBI (Custodian) Regulations, 1996 notified on 18 September 2025. The circular prescribes detailed norms on the segregation of activities, permitting custodians to carry out other financial services through Strategic Business Units, subject to safeguards such as maintaining separate accounts and compliance with net-worth...

SEBI Imposes ₹29 Lakh Penalty on Café Coffee Day Parent, Directors and Senior Officials Over Disclosure Failures

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on Monday imposed penalties totalling Rs 29 lakh on Coffee Day Enterprises Ltd., the parent company behind once popular coffee chain Café Coffee Day, and its directors and former senior officials. The penalty was for failing to recognise Rs 489.49 crore in interest expenses on borrowings in its financial statements over multiple years. SEBI Adjudicating Officer Amit Kapoor held that anticipated settlements with lenders could not justify...

Supreme Court Directs SEBI Recovery Officers To Decide 106 PACL Property Attachment Objections

The Supreme Court has recently directed that 106 applications challenging the attachment of properties linked to PACL Ltd. be examined by Recovery Officers under Section 28A of the SEBI Act. A bench of Justice Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha and Justice Atul S. Chandurkar was dealing with a batch of interlocutory applications filed by individuals and companies against the recommendations of Justice Retd. R.S. Virk, who had recommended dismissal of their objections. Justice Virk had been...

SEBI Tightens Norms for Green Debt Securities, Mandates Independent Reviewers

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on 27 February, revised the norms governing the appointment of independent third-party reviewers or certifiers for green debt securities. Green debt securities are bonds or similar instruments issued to raise funds specifically for environmentally sustainable projects, such as renewable energy, clean transportation, or energy efficiency initiatives. The move aligns the requirements for green debt instruments with the framework applicable to...

SEBI Imposes ₹99 Lakh Penalty On Mediaone Global For Fund Diversion And Financial Manipulation

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on 27 February imposed a penalty of Rs. 99 lakh on Mediaone Global Entertainment Ltd. and its key directors for diversion of funds, round-tripping, and large-scale manipulation of financial statements. The order was passed by SEBI's Chief General Manager N. Murugan, who held that the company had engaged in falsification of accounts and dissemination of misleading financial information to investors, warranting monetary penalties. He wrote: “The...

SEBI Cautions Against Fraudsters Offering To Manage Trading Accounts For Profit Share

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has issued a press release warning investors against stock market scams carried out through “account handling” services.SEBI stated that certain individuals, portraying themselves as experts, are offering account handling services to help investors invest in the securities market. These persons claim to generate risk free profits in investors' trading accounts. They typically specify a minimum capital requirement and charge a percentage share of...

SEBI Warns Public Against Fake STT Notices Seeking Outstanding Payments

The Securities and Exchange Board of India on Thursday issued a press release warning the public against fake Securities Transaction Tax notices.SEBI stated that fraudsters are circulating fake notices falsely claiming to have been issued under the SEBI Act, 1992, seeking compliance with STT under the Finance Act, 2004. According to SEBI, these fake notices use forged SEBI letterheads and request for payments for outstanding STT amounts. The regulator said that no such notices have been issued...

CRB Mutual Fund Case: Supreme Court Rejects Former Director's Plea Against Forensic Audit Order

The Supreme Court recently refused to interfere with a Delhi High Court order directing a forensic audit and SEBI supervision of the winding up of the CRB Mutual Fund, dismissing a special leave petition filed by C.R. Bhansali, a former director of CRB Capital Markets Ltd., in the long-running proceedings arising from securities and mutual fund irregularities of the 1990s. A bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and K.V. Viswanathan said: “Having heard the learned counsel appearing for the parties...

SEBI Drops LBMA Benchmark, Mandates Exchange Spot Prices For Gold And Silver Fund Valuation

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on Thursday issued a circular revising the valuation norms for physical gold and silver held by mutual fund schemes.Under the existing regulatory framework, physical gold and silver held by Gold and Silver Exchange Traded Funds are valued at the AM fixing prices of the London Bullion Market Association. The final valuation is arrived at after adjusting the LBMA prices for necessary metric and currency conversions, transportation costs, customs...

SEBI Directs Regulated Entities To Disclose Registration Numbers On Social Media Posts

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on Thursday issued a circular directing all persons regulated by the Board and their agents to prominently disclose their registered name and registration number on social media platforms when posting content related to the securities market. “With the rapid increase in the use and acceptance of social media, a need is felt to distinguish contents related to securities market uploaded/posted by the persons regulated by the Board (hereafter...

SAT Upholds ₹5 Lakh Penalty on Som Distilleries for Misleading Disclosure On ₹100 Crore Fund Raise

The Securities Appellate Tribunal has recently upheld a Rs 5 lakh penalty on Som Distilleries & Breweries Ltd, holding that the company failed to clearly inform investors that it had dropped a proposed Rs 100 crore preferential issue after initially citing “unforeseen circumstances” for cancelling a shareholders' meeting.A bench of Presiding Officer Justice P.S. Dinesh Kumar, Technical Member Meera Swarup and Technical Member Dr. Dheeraj Bhatnagar dismissed the company's appeal against...

SEBI Revises Mutual Fund Scheme Categorisation Norms, Introduces Life Cycle Funds

Today, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) revised the regulatory framework for the rationalisation and categorisation of mutual fund schemes. The circular supersedes Clause 2.6 of the Master Circular for Mutual Funds dated 27 June 2024. A key change is the introduction of Life Cycle Funds as a distinct scheme category. These are open-ended, goal-based funds with a pre-determined maturity, following a glide path investment strategy across equity, debt, InvITs, ETCDs, and gold and...