The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on February 10, 2025, issued the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Depositories and Participants) (Amendment) Regulations, 2025 to further amend the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Depositories and Participants) Regulations, 2018.
The following amendments have been stated:
• In regulation 8, after the words and symbol “under regulation 7, shall pay” and before the words “annual fee”, the words and symbols “, within fifteen days from the beginning of each financial year, the” shall be inserted. II)
• In regulation 9, the existing regulation shall be renumbered as sub-regulation (1) thereof and after subregulation (1) so numbered, the following sub-regulation shall be inserted, namely, – “(2) The details of remittance shall be forwarded along with the statement of computation of annual charges certified to be correct by a chartered accountant.”
• After regulation 9, the following regulation shall be inserted, namely –
“Interest on non-payment, belated payment or short payment of annual fee and annual charge.
9A. Where due to the default of the depository, any fee which was liable to be paid to the Board under Regulation 8 and Regulation 9 remains unpaid or is paid belatedly or is short-paid by the depository, it shall, without prejudice to any other action that may be initiated under the Act, rules or regulations, pay an interest of fifteen per cent per annum on the amount remaining unpaid or belatedly paid or short-paid, for every month of delay or part thereof to the Board.”
• In Chapter VII, after the existing regulation 82A, the following new regulation shall be inserted, namely,–
“Responsibility for the use of artificial intelligence
82AA. A depository which uses artificial intelligence and machine learning tools and techniques, either designed by it or procured from third-party technology service providers, irrespective of the scale and scenario of adoption of such tools for conducting its business and servicing its clients or constituents, shall be solely responsible–
a) for the privacy, security and integrity of investors’ and stakeholders’ data including data maintained by it in a fiduciary capacity throughout the processes involved;
b) for the output arising from the usage of such tools and techniques it relies upon or deals with; and
c) for the compliance with applicable laws in force.
Explanation: For the purpose of this regulation, the expression “artificial intelligence and machine learning tools and techniques” may include any application or software program or executable system or a combination thereof, offered by the depository to investors/stakeholders or used internally by it to facilitate trading and settlement or to carry out its activities including for compliance requirements and the same are portrayed as part of the products offered to the public or under usage for compliance or management or other business purposes. ”
They shall come into force from April 01, 2025.
[Notification No. SEBI/LAD-NRO/GN/2025/225]
