22 September 2026
IFSCA notifies the Electronic Trading Platform Regulations, 2026
The International Financial Services Centres Authority (“IFSCA”), in exercise of powers conferred under sub-section (1) of section 28 read with sub-section (1) of section 12 and sub-section (1) of section 13 of the International Financial Services Centres Authority Act, 2019, and section 45W of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, has notified the International Financial Services Centres Authority (Electronic Trading Platform) Regulations, 2026 (“ETP Regulations”). The ETP Regulations were approved at the Authority’s 29th meeting held on July 24, 2026, following a public consultation floated in February 2026, and now put in place, for the first time, a dedicated registration, participation and risk-management framework for electronic trading platforms (“ETPs”) operating in or accessed from GIFT IFSC. The Regulations came into force on September 10, 2026, the date of their Gazette publication. Key highlights include:
No person may operate an ETP in the IFSC without registering as an ETP Operator. The Regulations, however, carve out two situations. First, an IFSC Banking Unit (or its parent bank) is exempt where it is the sole provider of buy/sell quotes on its own platform and is a counterparty to every trade executed on it, essentially, single-dealer platforms. Second, a person operating a platform located outside the IFSC that services an IFSC entity does not need to register in the IFSC at all.
Eligibility to seek registration is open to (i) a company incorporated in the IFSC; (ii) an entity already operating a trading platform in an Eligible Jurisdiction, which may set up a branch in the IFSC; and (iii) a financial institution set up in the IFSC, on terms the Authority may specify.
An ETP Operator set up as an IFSC company must maintain a Net Worth of at least USD 200,000 at all times; a branch must maintain the same threshold together with its parent. The Authority may prescribe a higher requirement having regard to the nature and scale of an Operator’s business. Operators must submit an audited Net Worth certificate within six months of each financial year-end, and any shortfall must be restored immediately and reported to the Competent Authority within fifteen days.
Participation is drawn broadly: regulated and unregulated institutions, proprietary trading firms, funds, family offices and treasury centres are all eligible, and a person resident in India may also participate where FEMA or other applicable law permits them to transact in Eligible Instruments outside India. Before onboarding a Participant, the ETP Operator must satisfy itself, through due diligence, that the person is of good repute, has sufficient competence and experience to transact on the platform, and has adequate financial and technological arrangements in place. Participants must be uniquely identified using a Legal Entity Identifier, PAN or equivalent document, and onboarding criteria themselves must be objective, fair, transparent and non-discriminatory.
Chapter III casts a wide net of conduct obligations on ETP Operators, covering fair and orderly trading rules, efficient order execution infrastructure, business continuity arrangements, conflict-of-interest management (including where the Operator or its affiliates themselves participate), real-time surveillance and dissemination of trades, quantities and quotes, a defined escalation process for surveillance flags, adequately staffed operations, and a grievance-redressal mechanism for Participants.
Each Operator must also adopt a board-approved Operating Policy that is objective, fair, transparent and legally binding on every Participant, covering onboarding, suspension and termination of Participants; the Operator’s own roles and responsibilities; a liability framework for breaches; usage restrictions; order processing, risk management and control; and a complaint-redressal and dispute-resolution framework. Material changes to the policy must be notified to the Competent Authority, and the policy itself must be published on the website of the Operator.
On risk management specifically, an Operator must run resilient trading systems capable of handling peak order and message volumes even under market stress, reject orders that breach pre-set volume or price thresholds, be able to halt trading during sharp price movements, and have controls to prevent, detect and unwind error trades. Operators must also implement measures to identify, deter and prevent Market Abuse and report incidents to the Authority promptly. Where Participants are permitted to access the ETP through an Algorithmic Trading System, the Operator must disclose such access to other Participants, test the system before granting access to confirm it will not disrupt normal platform operations, and ensure the personnel operating it are adequately trained and qualified.
Where an Operator facilitates clearing and settlement between Participants, it must have satisfactory arrangements to secure timely discharge of rights and liabilities, and any such arrangement with a third-party entity requires the Authority’s prior approval. An Operator wishing to offer fund clearing or settlement services must separately seek authorisation as a payment system operator under the IFSCA (Payment and Settlement Systems) Regulations, 2024.
ETP Operators must maintain a business continuity plan and disaster recovery site, comply with cyber security and cyber resilience requirements specified by the Authority, and appoint a compliance officer responsible for regulatory adherence. All data relating to platform activity must be kept confidential, under the Operator’s control, and retained in a readily retrievable form for at least eight years, extended to at least three years from completion of any Authority investigation, or for the period prescribed under any other law where an investigating agency has sought the data.
Operators must file periodic returns and particulars in the form specified by the Authority and submit audited annual financial statements within thirty days of finalisation. The Authority, in turn, retains wide oversight powers, documents or records at any time; inspect, inquire into, investigate or audit an Operator (with every manager, director and officer obliged to cooperate); issue directions in the interest of Participants or the market; appoint an auditor and recover the associated costs from the Operator; and issue subsidiary instructions or clarifications to remove difficulties in interpreting the Regulations.
The First Schedule recognises trading venues authorised in the following six jurisdictions, whose operators may set up an IFSC branch under the lighter registration pathway described above:
