CSCRF category for a stock broker
Work out your CSCRF category from the current thresholds, across every SEBI regulated entity type, with the obligations each category picks up and the amendments that changed the criteria.
What this case turns on
Stock brokers are the only entity type CSCRF categorises on two parameters, and the circular is explicit that they are applied independently with the higher result winning. A broker large on registered clients and small on trading volume takes the heavier category. The April 2025 clarification replaced the original test entirely — categorisation no longer runs on active UCC client base, and the split between client-based and proprietary brokers no longer exists.
| Category | Threshold |
|---|---|
| Exempt | Up to 1,000 |
| Self-certification | More than 1,000 and up to 10,000 |
| Small-size | More than 10,000 and up to 1 lakh |
| Mid-size | More than 1 lakh and up to 10 lakhs |
| Qualified | More than 10 lakhs |
| Category | Threshold |
|---|---|
| Exempt | Up to ₹1,000 crore |
| Self-certification | More than ₹1,000 crore and up to ₹10,000 crore |
| Small-size | More than ₹10,000 crore and up to ₹1,00,000 crore |
| Mid-size | More than ₹1,00,000 crore and up to ₹10,00,000 crore |
| Qualified | More than ₹10,00,000 crore |
Carve-out. A broker with less than ₹1,000 crore of clientele trading volume in a year *and* fewer than 1,000 total registered clients is exempt from CSCRF. Both limbs must be satisfied.
Changed since CSCRF v1.0. CSCRF v1.0 categorised brokers on active UCC client base and distinguished client-based from proprietary brokers. April 2025 replaced that table outright and the proprietary/client-based split no longer exists.
Work out your own category
The tool below opens on this entity type. Enter your own figure to see which band you fall in and what that category obliges you to do.
The two parameters are applied independently and the higher categorisation applies. Qualified Stock Brokers designated under the February 2023 QSB circular are Qualified REs regardless.
| Category | Threshold |
|---|---|
| Exempt | Up to 1,000 |
| Self-certification | More than 1,000 and up to 10,000 |
| Small-size | More than 10,000 and up to 1 lakh |
| Mid-size | More than 1 lakh and up to 10 lakhs |
| Qualified | More than 10 lakhs |
| Category | Threshold |
|---|---|
| Exempt | Up to ₹1,000 crore |
| Self-certification | More than ₹1,000 crore and up to ₹10,000 crore |
| Small-size | More than ₹10,000 crore and up to ₹1,00,000 crore |
| Mid-size | More than ₹1,00,000 crore and up to ₹10,00,000 crore |
| Qualified | More than ₹10,00,000 crore |
Carve-out. A broker with less than ₹1,000 crore of clientele trading volume in a year *and* fewer than 1,000 total registered clients is exempt from CSCRF. Both limbs must be satisfied.
Changed since CSCRF v1.0. CSCRF v1.0 categorised brokers on active UCC client base and distinguished client-based from proprietary brokers. April 2025 replaced that table outright and the proprietary/client-based split no longer exists.
Indicative, and not legal advice. SEBI validates the category at the time of compliance submission through your reporting authority, and the thresholds are updated as and when required.
For every other entity type, the amendment history, and the obligations each category picks up, see the full CSCRF category finder.
This page is indicative and is not legal advice. SEBI validates the category through your reporting authority at the time of compliance submission. Every instrument cited here was verified against the issuing regulator's own notification on .
Questions this page answers
- How is a SEBI CSCRF category decided?
- On quantitative thresholds that differ by entity type — registered clients and trading volume for a stock broker, assets under management for a mutual fund or portfolio manager, assets under custody for a custodian, folios serviced for an RTA. Some entity types take a fixed category instead: every active Merchant Banker is Small-size, and KYC Registration Agencies are Qualified REs. Where an entity holds several registrations, the highest category applies.
- Can a SEBI regulated entity change CSCRF category during the year?
- No. SEBI is explicit that the category is decided at the beginning of the financial year on the previous financial year’s data, and the entity remains in that category for the whole year regardless of how the parameters move during it. A firm that grows across a threshold this year inherits the heavier standard next April, so a compliance plan built on the current category has a scheduled expiry date on it.
- What was the SEBI CSCRF compliance deadline?
- 31 August 2025, reached through two extensions from the original date — three months to 30 June 2025 in March 2025, then two further months in June 2025. Both extensions expressly carved out Market Infrastructure Institutions, KYC Registration Agencies and Qualified RTAs, so for those three the original deadline never moved at all.
- Which SEBI entities are exempt from CSCRF?
- Foreign Portfolio Investors, Foreign Venture Capital Investors, Limited Purpose Clearing Corporations, Qualified Depository Participants, REITs, InvITs and Vault Managers are excluded outright. So are stock brokers below both 1,000 registered clients and ₹1,000 crore of annual clientele trading volume, RTAs servicing fewer than 10,000 folios, inactive Merchant Bankers, Investment Advisers and Research Analysts not registered in any other capacity, and Debenture Trustees with no new listed-debt issuer client in three financial years.
- Does the Cyber Capability Index apply to every SEBI regulated entity?
- No. The CCI applies only to Market Infrastructure Institutions and Qualified REs. MIIs conduct a third-party assessment half-yearly; Qualified REs self-assess yearly. Mid-size, Small-size and Self-certification REs have no CCI obligation. The distinction matters evidentially as well as operationally — a third-party assessment and a self-report carry different weight in a supervisory conversation.