What SEBI’s board decided at its meeting on 24 September 2026

What happened at the September 2026 board meeting?

SEBI’s board met in Mumbai on 24 September 2026, its 215th meeting, and published the outcome the same day as Press Release No. 59/2026. Of the 13 items, several touch retail investors and the platforms that serve them directly: how portfolio managers can invest, how investment products may be advertised, and how enforcement cases can be settled.

What changes for portfolio managers?

The board approved the SEBI (Portfolio Managers) Regulations, 2026, superseding the 2020 regulations, after a consultation paper published on 23 July 2026. SEBI says the rewrite cuts the regulations from 70 pages to 33 and the provisos from 47 to 4. The developmental measures include:

• investment in IPOs and in primary issues of debt;
• up to 10% of a client’s assets under management in investment-grade, unlisted, non-convertible debt under discretionary PMS, with client consent;
• exchange-traded derivatives up to 1.25 times the client’s assets under management;
• investment in foreign securities under discretionary and non-discretionary PMS, within FEMA and RBI’s Liberalised Remittance Scheme;
• PRIM, the Portfolio Managers Route for Investing in Mutual Fund units: portfolio managers may invest clients’ money in direct plans of Indian mutual funds, ETFs, index funds and specialised investment funds, with a minimum ticket of ₹25 lakh, a fixed management fee capped at 1% of the client’s assets (performance fees also permitted), and a 25% cap on schemes of group AMCs;
• Independent Fund Managers, who manage client portfolios in association with a registered portfolio manager that carries full responsibility for them.

How will settlement of SEBI cases change?

The SEBI (Settlement of Administrative and Civil Proceedings) Regulations, 2026 will replace the Settlement Proceedings Regulations of 2018 and come into force on the day after the 30th day from notification. The main features, as listed in the press release:

• A formula: Settlement Amount = Base Amount × (S + R + G + A − M) + legal costs, where the base amount is linked to the minimum penalty for the violation and the factors reflect the stage of proceedings, regulatory action, gravity, aggravating and mitigating factors.
• Disgorgement separated: wrongful gains, losses avoided or losses caused are disgorged separately rather than built into the base amount, with interest at 9% a year (12% in some cases after a final order).
• Settlement before a show-cause notice: SEBI will first issue a settlement notice giving 60 days to apply, except where prosecution or an interim order is contemplated.
• More time and fast tracks: 90 days instead of 60 to apply after a show-cause notice; a fast track for cases where the settlement amount does not exceed ₹10 lakh and for violations such as disclosure lapses.
• A one-time window of 90 days after commencement for specified pending cases, at an additional 20% of the settlement amount.

What is the common advertisement code?

Until now each type of intermediary followed its own advertisement rules, set in different regulations, circulars and exchange instructions. The board approved a single Common Advertisement Code for stock brokers, depository participants, investment advisers, research analysts, online bond platform providers, portfolio managers and mutual funds, after a consultation paper of 23 June 2026. For investing apps and their marketing teams, the changes are concrete:

The code sits alongside, not in place of, the content rules each regulation already sets for what an advertisement may claim. What changes is the process: a marketing team publishes first and reports within three working days, instead of waiting for approval, unless a celebrity is involved.

Why do the accredited investor changes matter for platforms?

Accreditation decides who can access products with lighter regulation, such as some AIF and PMS offerings. Today it runs through accreditation agencies. The board added an optional, manager-led route and a new test based on securities market exposure, which SEBI describes as digitally verifiable. Accreditation under either route will be valid for three years, and manager-led accreditation will be portable across AIF, SIF and PMS products within the same group. For wealth platforms, that means fewer separate checks on the same investor.

What else did the board approve?

When do these changes apply?

A board approval is not yet law. Regulations take effect when they are notified in the Gazette, and several items say a circular will follow with the detail: the vault manager framework, the depository receipts framework, and the modalities of the illiquid stock options scheme. The Settlement Regulations state their own commencement, the day after the 30th day from notification. As of 30 October 2026, check the regulations and circulars pages on sebi.gov.in for what has been notified.

For the regulatory map these decisions sit on, see what SEBI regulates and where it meets fintech, and for an earlier rule that is already fully in force, SEBI’s retail algo trading framework.