CIRCULAR
SEBI/HO/DEPA-III/DEPA-III_SSU/P/CIR/2022/25 February 25, 2022
To
All Recognized Stock Exchanges, Depositories, Stock Brokers through Recognized
Stock Exchanges
All Mutual Funds/ Asset Management Companies (AMCs), Association of Mutual
Funds in India (AMFI)
All Registrars to an Issue & Share Transfer Agents
All KYC Registration Agencies (KRAs)
All Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) and Custodians
All Credit Rating Agencies (CRAs), Debenture Trustees
All Portfolio Managers
All Merchant Bankers, Bankers to an Issue, Underwriters
All Alternative Investment Funds(AIFs)
All Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs)
All Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs)
All Venture Capital Funds (VCFs) and Foreign Venture Capital Investors (FVCI)
All Research Analysts and Investment Advisors
Any other intermediary registered/to be registered with SEBI
Dear Sir/Madam,
Subject – Approach to securities market data access and terms of usage of data
provided by data sources in Indian securities market
1. Financial markets are traditionally data rich and data driven. With ever growing financial
markets, the volume and variety of data have also increased manifold over the years and
will continue to do so. With increasing size and complexity of financial markets, addressing
information asymmetry and having adequately informed investors and multiple stakeholders
in the market cannot be overemphasised.
2. Further, given the large variety and volume of information in the markets, the value added
service providers also have a crucial role to play in making such information available to the
stakeholders in a more comprehendible forms.
3. Therefore, in order to further enhance the quantum as well as the ease of accessibility and
usability of data disseminated in public by various data sources in Indian securities market,
including the MIIs (Stock and Commodity Exchanges, Clearing Corporations and
Depositories etc.), SEBI, through its Market Data Advisory Committee (MDAC), reviewed
the extent of free access and usage of data being provided in the public domain or otherwise
by the respective sources of data in Indian securities market.
4. In this regard, the regulatory intent behind public dissemination of data in a disclosure based
regulatory regime was deliberated in detail by MDAC. Accordingly, keeping in view the
deliberations and recommendations of MDAC on this issue, all market intermediaries
including the other data sources in Indian securities markets are advised to make note of
the following:
“As far as the data provided by various data sources in Indian securities
markets pursuant to regulatory mandates for reporting and disclosure in
public domain are concerned, such data should be made available to
users, ‘free of charge’ both for ‘viewing’ the data as also for download in
the format as specified by regulatory mandate for reporting, as well as
their usage for the value addition purposes.”
5. Further, apart from the data made available free of cost, data which is chargeable should
be appropriately identified as such in public domain.
6. The provisions of this circular shall come into force with immediate effect.
7. This circular is being issued in exercise of powers conferred under Section 11(1) of the
Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992, to protect the interests of investors in
securities and to promote the development of, and to regulate, the securities market.
8. This circular is available on SEBI website at www.sebi.gov.in under the category "Circulars".
Yours faithfully,
Prabhas Kumar Rath
General Manager
Department of Economic and Policy Analysis
Tel No. 022-26449772
E-mail: prabhasr@sebi.gov.in