Regulation 2 - Definitions - Securities and Exchange Board of India (Index Providers) Regulations, 2024

Definitions. 2. (1) In these regulations, unless the context otherwise requires, the terms defined herein shall bear the meanings assigned to them and their cognate expressions and variations shall be construed accordingly, (a) Act means the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992 (15 of 1992) ; (b) Administration means all stages and processes involved in the production and dissemination of a benchmark or index, and includes (i) collecting, analyzing or processing information or expressions of opinion for the purposes of determination of a benchmark or index; (ii) determining a benchmark or index through the application of a formula or through another method of calculating the information or expressions of opinions provided for that purpose; and (iii) dissemination to subscribers, including any review, adjustment and modification to this process. (c) Audit Trail means the documentation and retention of all relevant data, submissions, other information, judgments, including the rationale for any inclusion or exclusion of data, analysis and identities of submitters of information used in the benchmark setting process for an appropriate period; (d) Benchmark or Index means prices, estimates, rates or values, used in relation to securities that are: (i) made available to subscribers; whether free of charge or for payment; (ii) calculated periodically; entirely or partially by the application of a formula or another method of calculation or an assessment of the value of one or more underlying interests; (iii) used as reference for purposes that include: 1. determining the price at which a financial instrument may be bought or sold or traded or redeemed or the value of a financial instrument; or 2. measuring the performance of a financial instrument. (e) Board means the Board as defined in clause (a) of sub-section (1) of section 2 of the Act; (f) body corporate means a body corporate as defined in sub-section (11) of section 2 of the Companies Act, 2013 (18 of 2013) ; (g) certificate means a certificate of registration granted by the Board under these regulations; (h) Change in control in case of a body corporate (A) if its shares are listed on any recognised stock exchange, shall be construed with reference to the definition of control in terms of regulations framed under clause (h) of sub-section (2) of section 11 of the Act; (B) if its shares are not listed on any recognised stock exchange, shall be construed with reference to the definition of control as provided in sub-section (27) of Section 2 of the Companies Act, 2013 (18 of 2013) ; (i) Submitter means a person providing information to an Index Provider in connection with the determination of a Benchmark or an Index; (j) Contribution of input data means providing any data not readily available with the Index Provider in connection with the computation of Benchmark or an Index; (k) Expert Judgement means the exercise of discretion by an Index Provider or Submitter with respect to the use of data in determining a Benchmark with due documentation of the rationale and includes extrapolating values from prior or related transactions or adjusting values for factors that might influence the quality of data such as market events or impairment of the credit quality of a buyer or seller; (l) Form means any of the Forms set out in the First Schedule; (m) Index Provider means a person who controls the creation, operation and administration of a Benchmark or an Index, whether or not it owns the intellectual property rights relating to the Benchmark or an Index, and is in particular, responsible for all stages of the Benchmark or an Index administration process, including: (i) the calculation of the Benchmark or an Index; (ii) determining and applying the Benchmark or an Index methodology; and (iii) disseminating the Benchmark or an Index. (n) Methodology means the written rules and procedures according to which information is collected and the Benchmark or an Index is determined; (o) Net-worth shall have the same meaning assigned to it under sub-section (57) of section 2 of the Companies Act, 2013 (18 of 2013) ; (p) Publish or make available refers to the requirement of an Index Provider to provide a document or notice to the Stakeholders where the means by which such notice is made, is proportionate to the breadth and depth of the use of Benchmark by the Stakeholders, as determined by the Index Provider on a best effort basis. Explanation: Document or notice published on the website of an Index Provider shall ordinarily be considered as compliance with this requirement; (q) Regulated Market or Exchange means a market or exchange that is regulated or supervised or both by a Regulatory Authority; (r) Regulatory Authority means a governmental or statutory body not being a Self-Regulatory Organisation that is mandated to regulate the securities or commodities and futures market or both; (s) Schedule means a schedule to these regulations; (t) Securities shall have the meaning assigned to it under clause (h) of section 2 of the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956 (42 of 1956) ; (u) Significant Indices means Indices administered by an Index Provider, which are tracked or benchmarked by domestic mutual fund schemes with the cumulative assets under management exceeding the limits as may be specified from time to time. Explanation : The list of Significant Indices shall be specified by the Board from time to time. (v) Stakeholder refers to subscribers and other persons or entities who own contracts or financial instruments that reference a Benchmark; (w) Stock exchange means a stock exchange which is recognised by the Board under the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956 (42 of 1956) ; (x) Submission means and includes prices, estimates, values, rates or information provided by a Submitter to an Index Provider for the purpose of determining a Benchmark but does not include data sourced from Regulated Markets or Stock Exchanges with mandatory post-trade transparency requirements; (y) subscriber means an entity that is availing Indices from Index Providers. (2) All other expressions unless defined herein shall have the same meaning as have been assigned to them under the Act or the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956 (42 of 1956) or the Companies Act, 2013 (18 of 2013) or any statutory modification or re-enactment thereto, as the case may be.