Sebi proposes stronger tech resilience norms for exchanges, depositories
Sep 15, 2026
The proposed framework seeks to shorten disaster recovery drills to at least four hours while strengthening operational resilience and data recovery requirements
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Tuesday proposed shortening disaster recovery (DR) drills for market infrastructure institutions (MIIs) to at least four hours, while introducing tighter operational resilience and data recovery requirements for stock exchanges.
Under the proposed framework, MIIs would conduct DR drills on a non-working day, starting operations at the primary data centre (PDC) and switching over to the disaster recovery site (DRS). The overall drill would need to run for at least four hours, including the switchover time.
The regulator said the changes were proposed following representations from exchanges, particularly those with commodity derivatives segments where trading for certain products extends until 11.55 pm. Conducting drills for the entire market session can be cumbersome for both market participants and MIIs, it said.
The proposed drills, however, would have to cover all market-operation scenarios and simulate real-life loads and participation close to actual levels. MIIs would also be required to test scenarios that could affect their systems, with comprehensive scenario lists reviewed by their Standing Committee on Technology.
Sebi has also proposed strengthening resilience at the PDC through comprehensive stress and mock testing covering not just transaction volumes and orders per second, but also database records, table sizes, masters and other non-transactional components.
MIIs would additionally have to regularly test the fault tolerance of their PDC and DRS to ensure redundant components automatically take over in the event of a failure. They would be required to identify and monitor system limits, including database, configuration and table-size limits, to prevent operational bottlenecks.
For stock exchanges, Sebi has proposed a new mechanism to recover lost trade data from clearing corporations if a disruption also affects replication at the near site or DRS. Exchanges and clearing corporations would have to put standard operating procedures in place for such recovery.
The proposals aim to ease the conduct of DR drills while strengthening the operational resilience of MIIs. Public comments have been invited until October 5.
[The Business Standard]
