CDSSF - Industry Standards Forum

SEBI has set up Advisory Committees and Industry Standards Fora (ISFs) in pursuance of its objective to formulate and implement policies, whether through Regulations or Circulars, in a consultative and collaborative manner.

Co-creation of policies and standards along with the concerned stakeholders enables the regulator to formulate and implement measures that lead to development of the market and ease of doing business. This also aims to harmonise market practices and achieve consistent implementation of policies across the industry.

Custodians and Designated Depository Participants Standards Setting Forum (CDSSF) is the industry standards forum for ensuring standardized implementation of the regulatory developments that are related to Custodians and Designated Depository Participants (DDPs).

The following Standard Operating Procedures have been co-created by the stakeholders with the market regulator SEBI and adopted by the industry –

• Standard Operating Procedure for seeking additional disclosures from certain objectively identified Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs)
• Standard Operating Procedures for Material Changes
• Standard Operating Procedures for Flexibility Framework Circulars
• Standard Operating Procedures for Registrations

Other areas, in relation to ease of doing business, that the CDSSF was involved in areas include T+1 settlements, Feedback on T+0 model, Common contract note, remediation for Legal Entity requirements, implementation of the Foreign Venture Capital Investor regulations, permitting use of scanned Common Application Form (CAF), implementation of abridged CAF, simplification for government bond investors, enabling modification of CAF without change in barcode and standardization of requirement of Legal Entity Identifier code and tracking of expiry details.