SEBI has moved FATCA and CRS reporting for registered intermediaries onto a new statutory footing: Form 166 under Rules 238 to 240 of the Income-tax Rules, 2026 replaces Form 61B, with effect from 1 April 2026.

The regulator's circular HO/38/14/(18)2026-MIRSD-POD2/I/25560/2026, dated 11 November 2026, aligns the disclosure regime with the Income-tax Act, 2025, which replaced the Income-tax Act, 1961 from that 1 April date. Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) reporting now sits under Section 508 of the 2025 Act, read with Rules 238, 239 and 240 and Form 166 of the 2026 Rules, instead of Section 285BA, Rules 114F to 114H and Form 61B under the old statute.

The circular reached every SEBI-registered intermediary, both stock exchanges and both depositories, and was issued under Section 11(1) of the SEBI Act, 1992, read with Rule 239(12)(a) of the Income-tax Rules, 2026.

What does the new tax law change?

Three substitutions drive the work. The reporting provision moves from Section 285BA of the 1961 Act to Section 508 of the 2025 Act. The operating rules move from a block of five, Rules 114F to 114H, down to three, Rules 238, 239 and 240. The data form moves from Form 61B to Form 166.

The circular's FAQ section puts the timing plainly: the Income-tax Act, 2025 and the Income-tax Rules, 2026 replace the 1961 Act and the 1962 Rules from 1 April 2026, and Form 166 then replaces Form 61B for FATCA and CRS reporting from that date. The circular itself was issued seven months later, on 11 November 2026.

SEBI also directed intermediaries to the Central Board of Direct Taxes guidance note on FATCA and CRS dated 24 July 2026, the interpretive reference the regulator treats as governing the new form.

Who carries the obligation?

The requirements apply to entities that qualify as Reporting Financial Institutions, as defined in Rule 238 of the Income-tax Rules, 2026. Those intermediaries must incorporate AEOI reporting and due diligence into customer onboarding and Know Your Customer frameworks, and retain the information the new rules demand.

What must intermediaries change in their systems?

SEBI listed the operational steps intermediaries must take, "among other steps":

• Review and update self-certification collection so that the validity indicator is captured.
• Record controlling-person identification, including roles such as settlor, trustee, protector, beneficiary or other.
• Capture account classification, covering account type and whether the account is pre-existing or new.
• Update Form 166 XML generation software so that all new mandatory fields are included.

SEBI warned in the circular: "missing required fields will result in validation errors on the income-tax portal." The warning makes the software layer the pressure point for every intermediary that has to re-map its data fields to the new form.

FATCA and CRS certifications obtained from clients must be uploaded to the systems of KYC Registration Agencies. On responsibility, the circular is unambiguous: "The onus of obtaining and reporting the certifications, and of related compliances, lies solely with the respective intermediaries." No pass-through to clients, no shared liability with the tax authority's registries.

Where this fits among SEBI's other changes

The circular lands in a dense run of market-structure updates from the regulator. SEBI has already moved on online settlement proceedings, digital onboarding for NRI KYC, accredited investor and manager rules, and adjustments in currency derivatives. The FATCA and CRS revision joins that list as a technical change with a hard operational edge: it touches onboarding, KYC data retention, XML generation and uploads to external registries at the same time.

The practical sequence is fixed by the rule text. Intermediaries qualify under Rule 238, capture self-certification validity and controlling-person roles, classify accounts as pre-existing or new, regenerate XML to Form 166 field specification, and push client certifications to the KYC Registration Agencies' systems. Each missing element produces portal validation errors rather than a soft warning, and the liability for closing the gap stays inside the intermediary.

The circular is available on the SEBI website.