Summary: The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has notified the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Vault Managers) (Amendment) Regulations, 2026, on 8 October 2026, under notification No. SEBI/LAD-DOP/2026/325. The amendments modify the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Vault Managers) Regulations, 2021, and come into force on the ninetieth day from publication in the Official Gazette.
The amendments expand the regulatory framework beyond Electronic Gold Receipts to cover bullion-related instruments, including Exchange Traded Funds on bullion, derivatives on bullion and other instruments or contracts permitted by SEBI. They introduce definitions for bullion, bullion-related instruments and the vaulting system, and extend the framework to vault managers undertaking or intending to undertake storage of bullion underlying such instruments.
The revised provisions strengthen requirements concerning bullion deposits, delivery standards, physical reconciliation, segregation, security against theft, fraud, fire, terrorism and cyber-attacks, and coordination with depositories, clearing corporations, asset management companies and custodians. Vault managers must ensure that bullion remains within the vaulting system and must follow SEBI-prescribed procedures for delivery and withdrawal.
The amendments also introduce the appointment of a compliance officer, quarterly reporting of non-compliance and investor grievances, indemnification for losses arising during vaulting services, and a requirement to use registered vault managers, subject to a transitional provision. New provisions empower SEBI to specify procedures through circulars and grant conditional relaxation from strict compliance in specified circumstances, subject to a non-refundable application fee of ₹1 lakh. Changes to Form A and the Third Schedule further strengthen insurance disclosures, staff information and service obligations.
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE BOARD OF INDIA
NOTIFICATION
Mumbai, the 8th October, 2026
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE BOARD OF INDIA (VAULT MANAGERS) (AMENDMENT) REGULATIONS, 2026
F. No. SEBI/LAD-DOP/2026/325.— In exercise of the powers conferred by section 30(1) read with section 11(2)(ba), section 12(1A) of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992 (15 of 1992), Section 31 of the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956 (42 of 1956) and Section 25 of the Depositories Act, 1996 (22 of 1996), the Securities and Exchange Board of India hereby makes the following regulations, namely:—
1. These regulations may be called the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Vault Managers) (Amendment) Regulations, 2026.
2. They shall come into force on the ninetieth day from the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.
3. In the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Vault Managers) Regulations, 2021, —
I. in regulation 2(1), —
(a) clause (b) shall be omitted;
(b) clause (d), shall be substituted with the following, namely —
“(d) “beneficial owner” in relation to, –
(i) Electronic Gold Receipts means a person whose name is recorded as a beneficial owner in the records of a depository or depository participant;
(ii) Exchange Traded Funds on bullion means the specific mutual fund scheme of such Exchange Traded Funds;
(iii) derivatives on bullion means the owner or holder of the derivative contracts as recorded by the clearing corporation;”
(c) after clause (e) and before clause (f), following clauses shall be inserted, namely —
“(ea) “bullion” means precious metals including gold, silver or any other precious metal, which forms an underlying for a bullion related instrument;
(eb) “bullion related instruments” means Electronic Gold Receipts, Exchange Traded Funds on bullion, derivatives on bullion, and any other bullion related instruments or contracts, as may be permitted by the Board from time to time;”
(d) clause (g), shall be substituted with the following, namely —
“(g) “Depositor” means a person who deposits the bullion with the vault in the manner as specified by the Board for bullion related instruments;”
(e) after clause (h) and before clause (i), following clause shall be inserted, namely —
“(ha) “Exchange Traded Funds” shall have the meaning as assigned to it under the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Mutual Funds) Regulations, 2026;”
(f) clause (i), shall be substituted with the following, namely —
“(i) “bullion delivery standards” means the quality or standard of bullion as specified by the Board, for different bullion related instruments;”
(g) clause (j) shall be omitted;
(h) clause (m), shall be substituted with the following, namely —
“(m) “Vaulting service” in relation to bullion means the storage and safe keeping of bullion deposited with the Vault Manager, for the purpose of bullion related instruments and providing services incidental thereto, and includes-
(i) utilizing the services of assayers for the purpose of testing of bullion, as per applicable bullion delivery standards, wherever required;
(ii) coordination with the depositories for creation, transfer and extinguishment of Electronic Gold Receipt; and
(iii) providing deposit, storage and withdrawal services to the beneficial owners;”
(i) after clause (m), following clause shall be inserted, namely —
“(n) “Vaulting system” means the network of vaults established and maintained by a registered Vault Manager for providing vaulting services in relation to the bullion related instruments.”
II. After regulation 2 and before regulation 3, the following regulation shall be inserted, namely —
“Applicability of the regulations
2A. These regulations shall apply to every Vault Manager undertaking or intending to undertake storage of bullion underlying the bullion related instruments as specified in these regulations.”
III. In regulation 4 —
(a) in clause (b), the word “fifty” shall be substituted with the words and symbol “seventy-five”;
(b) in clause (f), —
(i) sub-clause (i), shall be substituted with the following, namely —
“(i) Procedures for deposit, storage and withdrawal of bullion;”
(ii) sub-clause (v), the following shall be substituted, namely —
“(v) Security policy for ensuring the safety of bullion including from theft, burglary, fire, fraud, negligence, terrorism, cyber-attack or any other threat;”
(iii) sub-clause (vi), after the word “negligence” and before the words “as well as”, the words and symbol “, terrorism, cyber-attack” shall be inserted;
(iv) sub-clause (ix), shall be substituted with the following, namely —
“(ix) Procedure for periodic reconciliation of physical bullion with the records maintained by it and with the records of the depository, clearing corporation, asset management company or custodian, as the case may be;”
IV. in regulation 5(2), after the words “grant of certificate” and before the symbol “.” the words “of registration” shall be inserted.
V. in regulation 12, —
(a) sub-regulation (1), shall be substituted with the following, namely —
“(1) The Vault Manager shall be responsible for taking the deposit of the bullion, in the manner specified by the Board from time to time.”
(b) after sub-regulation (1) and before sub-regulation (2), the following sub-regulation shall be inserted, namely —
“(1A) The Vault Manager shall ensure that the bullion has never exited from the vaulting system, and is in conformity with any other condition as may be specified by the Board from time to time.”
(c) in sub-regulation (2), the words “stock exchange” shall be substituted with the words “Board from time to time”;
(d) in sub-regulation (4), the words “gold standard” shall be substituted with the words “bullion delivery standard”;
(e) sub-regulation (5) shall be omitted;
(f) in sub-regulation (6), after the words “an Electronic Gold Receipt” and before the words “without underlying”, the words and symbol “or any record of deposit of bullion in its vault,” shall be inserted;
(g) sub-regulation (12), shall be substituted with the following, namely —
“(12) The Vault Manager shall devise procedures for periodic reconciliation of physical bullion with the corresponding record of bullion related instruments as maintained by it and the depositories, clearing corporations, asset management companies or custodians, as the case may be.”
(h) in sub-regulation (13), after the word “depository” and before the words “and physical”, the words “or clearing corporation or asset management company or custodian” shall be inserted;
(i) sub-regulation (14), shall be substituted with the following, namely —
“(14) The Vault Manager shall deliver the bullion in the manner specified by the Board from time to time.”
(j) sub-regulation (17), shall be substituted with the following, namely —
“(17) The Vault Manager shall not create any bullion related instrument or deposit bullion in its own name with respect to the bullion stored in its recognized vaults.”
(k) in sub-regulation (18), the words “for the creation of Electronic Gold Receipt” shall be omitted;
(l) sub-regulation (20), shall be substituted with the following, namely —
“(20) The Vault Manager shall ensure that delivery of bullion to the beneficial owner is in conformity with the bullion delivery standards.”
(m) after sub-regulation 22, the following sub-regulation shall be inserted, namely —
“(23) If a Vault Manager refuses or fails to hand over the bullion to the beneficial owner, the burden of proof shall lie on the Vault Manager to establish the existence of a lawful excuse for its refusal or failure to allow such withdrawal.”
VI. in regulation 13 —
(a) the existing regulations shall be numbered as sub-regulation (1);
(b) the words “gold for trading of Electronic Gold Receipt” shall be substituted with the words “bullion underlying the bullion related instruments”;
(c) after sub-regulation (1), the following sub-regulation shall be inserted, namely —
“(2) The Vault Manager shall ensure that the bullion underlying the bullion related instruments stored in the Vaults is also segregated instrument-wise and entity-wise.”
VII. in regulation 14(2) —
(a) in clause (b), after the words “Details of” and before the words “storage”, the word and symbol “deposit,” shall be inserted;
(b) in clause (f), the words “beneficial owner” shall be substituted with the words and symbol “depositories, clearing corporations, asset management companies or custodians, as the case may be”.
VIII. After Regulation 14 and before Regulation 15, the following regulation shall be inserted, namely —
“Appointment of compliance officer
14A. (1) Every Vault Manager shall appoint a compliance officer who shall be responsible for monitoring the compliance of the Act, rules and regulations, notifications, guidelines, circulars or directions, etc. issued thereunder and for the redressal of investors’ grievances.
(2) The compliance officer shall immediately and independently, report to the Board any non-compliance observed by him.
(3) The compliance officer shall submit a report of any non-compliance of the Act, rules and regulations, notifications, guidelines, circulars or directions issued thereunder and of the redressal of investors’ grievances, to the Board on a quarterly basis in the manner as specified by the Board.”
IX. Regulation 15, shall be substituted with the following, namely —
“Vault Manager to indemnify loss in certain cases
If any loss is caused in the course of providing vaulting services, the Vault Manager shall indemnify the beneficial owner for such losses, in the manner specified by the Board from time to time.”
X. In Chapter IV,
(a) the heading “ELECTRONIC GOLD RECEIPTS” shall be substituted with “BULLION RELATED INSTRUMENTS”;
(b) regulation 17, shall be substituted with the following, namely —
“Obligation to avail services of Registered Vault Manager.
Any entity availing the vaulting services for the purpose of storage of bullion underlying bullion related instruments shall avail such services only from a Vault Manager registered with the Board:
Provided that any entity providing vaulting services for bullion-related instruments may continue to store such bullion for a period of three months from the date of commencement of these regulations, subject to submitting an application for registration to the Board within the said period.”
(c) regulation 18, shall be substituted with the following, namely —
“Manner and Procedures for providing Vaulting Services for Bullion Underlying Bullion Related Instruments
The manner and procedure for providing vaulting services with respect to bullion related instruments shall be specified by the Board from time to time.”
(d) Regulation 19 shall be omitted;
(e) Regulation 20(d), shall be substituted with the following, namely —
“(d) to inspect suo-motu into the affairs of the Vault Manager, as may be deemed fit, in the interest of the securities market or in the interest of investors.”
XI. In the proviso to Regulation 25, the word “or” occurring between the words “the Vault Manager” and “its directors”, shall be substituted with the word “and”.
XII. In regulation 27 —
(a) in clause (a), after the words “the rules” and before the words “framed thereunder”, the words and symbol “, regulations or circulars” shall be inserted;
(b) in clause (e), after the words “in any” and before the word “enquiry”, the word and symbol “audit,” shall be inserted;
XIII. In regulation 28, the word “may”, shall be substituted the words “shall have the power to”.
XIV. After regulation 28, the following regulations shall be inserted, namely —
“Power to specify procedures and issue clarifications
28A. For the purposes of implementation of these regulations and matters incidental thereto, the Board may specify norms, procedures, processes, manners or guidelines as specified in these regulations, by way of circulars.
Power to relax the strict enforcement of the regulations
28B. (1) The Board may suo motu or upon an application made by a Vault Manager, for reasons recorded in writing, grant relaxation from the strict compliance of any of the provisions of these regulations subject to such conditions as the Board deems fit to impose in the interests of the investors in securities and the securities market, if the Board is satisfied that:
(a) relaxation is procedural or technical in nature; or
(b) the non-compliance was caused due to factor beyond the control of the entity.
(2) For seeking relaxation under sub-regulation (1), an application, giving details and the grounds on which such relaxation has been sought, shall be filed with the Board and such application shall be accompanied by a non-refundable fee of rupees one lakh payable by way of direct credit in the bank account through NEFT/RTGS/IMPS or online payment using the SEBI payment gateway or any other mode specified by the Board from time to time.”
XV. In the First Schedule, in Form A —
(a) in the section titled “Financial Information”, after item 2, the following shall be inserted, namely —
“3. Details of insurance taken.”
(b) in the section titled “Information Concerning the Vault(s)”, item 2(xv) shall be substituted with the following, namely —
“(xv) Number of staff members in the vault(s) along with their details viz. name, designation, educational qualifications and details of experience in the business.”
XVI. In the Third Schedule, in clause (1) —
(a) item (i), shall be substituted with the following, namely —
“(i) be prompt in providing vaulting services to the beneficial owner of bullion, depositories, clearing corporations, asset management companies or custodians.”
(b) in item (x), after the words “beneficial owner” and before the symbol “.”, the words and symbol “, depositories, clearing corporations, asset management companies or custodians” shall be inserted;
(c) in item (xii), after the words “depositories” and before the words “and clearing organizations”, the words and symbol “, asset management companies or custodians” shall be inserted.
XVII. The word “gold” wherever appearing in the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Vault Managers) Regulations, 2021, shall be substituted by the word “bullion”.
AMIT PRADHAN, Executive Director
[ADVT.-III/4/Exty./379/2026-27]
Note:
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Vault Managers) Regulations, 2021 was published in the Gazette of India on December 31, 2021 vide notification no. SEBI/LAD-NRO/GN/2021/61 and was last amended on February 10, 2025 by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Investor Charter) (Amendment) Regulations, 2025 vide notification no. SEBI/LAD-NRO/GN/2025/228.
