SEBI Board approved SEBI (International Financial Services Centres) Guidelines, 2015

The capital market regulator, Security and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Board on 22 March 2015 approved SEBI (International Financial Services Centres) Guidelines, 2015.
The guidelines for IFSCs aim to provide an enabling environment for setting up of capital market infrastructure like stock exchanges, clearing houses, depository services, etc., in such centres.

Guidelines for International Financial Services Centres (IFSC)
• Any Indian stock exchange by the SEBI or a foreign stock exchange recognized by the originating country’s market regulator can set up subsidiaries in IFSC.
• A stock exchange can be set up with 25 crore rupees capital, against the normal requirement of 100 crore rupees. However, this will have to be raised to 100 crore rupees within three years. Such exchanges will also be given three years to complete de-mutualisation.
• A Clearing Corporation can be set up, with 50 crore rupees capital, against the norm of 300 crore rupees, which will have to be achieved within three years of establishment.
• Issue of depository receipts and other securities by foreign issuers under the Foreign Currency Depository Receipts Scheme, 2014, will also be allowed.
• IFSC will be set up under the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Act of 2005.
• Non-resident Indians, foreign investors, institutional investors, and resident Indians eligible under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) are allowed to  participate in IFSC.
The guidelines were proposed in pursuant to the announcement made by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley during his budget speech of 2015-16. In that he had announced to establish the first IFSC, Gujarat International Finance Tec-city (GIFT), in Ahmadabad.