Working days
Also written Working day · Working days (SEBI) · SEBI working days
For AIF filings and reporting, all days excluding Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays on which the concerned SEBI office is closed for business, as published on SEBI's website.
In plain language
Most AIF deadlines are counted in working days, not in dates on a calendar. So the phrase needs a definition, and the workbook gives one.
Working days mean all days except three things: Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays on which the concerned SEBI office is closed for business. SEBI publishes that holiday list on its website.
Read the definition carefully, because the reference point is SEBI's own office. It is not a bank holiday list. It is not a stock exchange trading calendar. A day the market is shut is not automatically a non-working day here, and a day the market is open is not automatically a working day.
The practical effect is that a deadline of 10 working days is usually about a fortnight of real time. Get the counting wrong and a scheme launches early, which is a breach.
How it works
Where the definition sits. Chapter 9, in the footnote to section 9.5.1 on filing the PPM and launching AIF schemes. It is attached to the first deadline in the paper that is measured this way.
Every working-day clock in this workbook:
| Deadline | Count |
|---|---|
| PPM filed with SEBI through a merchant banker before launch of a Regular scheme | at least 10 working days prior |
| An AIF may launch a new scheme after filing | 10 working days after filing |
| First scheme of an AIF | grant of registration, or 10 working days after filing, whichever is later |
| Compliance Officer reports a deviation to SEBI | forthwith within 7 working days |
| Custodian reports a Category III leverage-limit breach to SEBI | before 10 a.m. on the next working day |
| CDS exposures reported by the AIF to the custodian | by the next working day |
| Disclosure of aggregate shareholding and voting on crossing 5% of a target company under the Takeover Regulations | within two working days of receipt of intimation of allotment |
| Sale or divestment of investments in overseas companies reported to SEBI | within 3 working days |
Note the one place the workbook uses the phrase in an unrelated sense: in Chapter 12 the overnight market is described as having a tenor of one working day. That is a money-market tenor, not a filing deadline.
And the deadlines that are not in working days. The same paper measures other obligations differently, which is how questions are set:
- Investor grievances redressed within 21 calendar days; a first review requested within 15 calendar days of the Action Taken Report.
- Dissenting investors given not less than one month to express dissent, with the exit process completed within 3 months.
- PPM audit findings communicated within 6 months from the end of the financial year.
- Changes in PPM terms intimated within 1 month of the end of each financial year.
- The Liquidation Period is 1 year following expiry of tenure.
When the workbook says days, check which kind before counting.
A worked example
The fund, dates and amounts are illustrative; the counting rule and the 10-working-day deadline are the workbook's.
Meridian India Opportunities Fund — Scheme III is a Regular scheme with a target first close of Rs 250 crore. Its merchant banker files the PPM with SEBI on Tuesday, 1 September.
Count 10 working days. Saturdays, Sundays and days the concerned SEBI office is shut do not count. Assume one public holiday, on Thursday, 10 September.
| Working day | Date |
|---|---|
| 1 | Wed 2 Sep |
| 2 | Thu 3 Sep |
| 3 | Fri 4 Sep |
| 4 | Mon 7 Sep |
| 5 | Tue 8 Sep |
| 6 | Wed 9 Sep |
| — | Thu 10 Sep — SEBI office closed, not counted |
| 7 | Fri 11 Sep |
| 8 | Mon 14 Sep |
| 9 | Tue 15 Sep |
| 10 | Wed 16 Sep |
So the scheme may launch on or after Thursday, 17 September — 16 calendar days after filing for a 10-working-day wait. A manager who counted calendar days would have circulated the PPM on 11 September and breached the regulation while believing the wait was over.
Two refinements. If this were the AIF's first scheme, the launch date is the later of 17 September and the date SEBI grants registration — so a registration dated 30 September pushes the launch to 30 September, and the Rs 250 crore first close with it. And if the same fund breaches its leverage limit on Wednesday 16 September, the custodian must report to SEBI before 10 a.m. on Thursday 17 September — the next working day, not the next calendar day.
Why NISM asks about it
Chapter 9, section 9.5.1 carries the definition in a footnote, and Chapters 9, 13 and 15 then use working days for launch timing, compliance reporting, leverage-breach reporting and takeover disclosures. Chapter 15 repeats the launch rule in its regulatory summary.
The examinable points are the three exclusions (Saturdays, Sundays, SEBI-office public holidays), the 10 working days before a Regular scheme launch, the 7 working days for a Compliance Officer's deviation report, and before 10 a.m. on the next working day for a custodian's leverage-breach report. Questions also swap working days for calendar days on the 21-calendar-day grievance clock.
Common exam traps
- SEBI's office, not the market. The exclusion is public holidays on which the concerned SEBI office is closed, as published on SEBI's website — not exchange trading holidays and not bank holidays.
- 10 working days is not 10 days. With weekends it is normally 14 calendar days, and more if a holiday falls inside.
- Some deadlines in the same paper are calendar days. Grievance redressal is 21 calendar days and the review window 15 calendar days. Do not apply the working-day rule to them.
- "Before 10 a.m. on the next working day" has a clock as well as a date. A report filed at 4 p.m. on the next working day is late.
- "Whichever is later" is not "whichever is earlier". A first scheme waits for both the 10 working days and the registration.
- Business Day is a different definition from a different regulator. That page is written from a pension paper and turns on the Trustee Bank, the exchanges and the government securities market being open together. Do not substitute it for SEBI working days.
Check yourself
1.A newly formed AIF files its first regular scheme PPM. The 10 working days after filing end on 20 July; SEBI registration is granted on 5 August. The scheme can launch from:
- a)20 July
- b)The date of filing
- c)5 August
- d)10 working days after 5 August
Show the answer
Answer: (c) 5 August
First schemes of an AIF can be launched from the date of grant of SEBI registration or after 10 working days of filing of application with SEBI, whichever is later. The later of 20 July and 5 August is 5 August.
Option A takes the earlier date — the classic slip. Option B would apply only to a later scheme of an LVF or AI-only Fund. Option D wrongly restarts the 10-day count from registration.
2.A registered AIF files the PPM for its third regular scheme through a merchant banker. When can it launch the scheme?
- a)Immediately upon filing
- b)After 10 working days of filing, having incorporated any SEBI comments
- c)Only after SEBI issues a formal approval letter
- d)After 30 calendar days of filing
Show the answer
Answer: (b) After 10 working days of filing, having incorporated any SEBI comments
AIFs can proceed with the launch of their new schemes after 10 working days of filing of application to SEBI. If SEBI communicates comments, the merchant banker or the Manager shall ensure that the comments are incorporated in the placement memorandum prior to launch of the scheme.
Option A is the rule for LVFs and AI-only Funds (for schemes after their first). Option C is wrong because SEBI does not approve the PPM. Option D invents a timeline; note too that the rule is in working days, which exclude Saturdays, Sundays and SEBI office holidays.
3.Within what time must the Compliance Officer of an AIF's Investment Manager report a deviation to SEBI?
- a)Forthwith, within 7 working days
- b)Within 15 calendar days
- c)Within 30 days of the financial year end
- d)At the next quarterly activity report
Show the answer
Answer: (a) Forthwith, within 7 working days
The Compliance Officer monitors compliance with SEBI's Act, rules, regulations, notifications, circulars and directives, and independently reports any deviation to SEBI forthwith within 7 working days.
15 calendar days is the Limited Quarterly Activity Report deadline. 30 days from year end is the CTR deadline. Neither applies to deviations.
Where this is taught
Free preparation for NISM Series XIX-ERelated terms
- Compliance OfficerThe separately appointed officer of a merchant banker, listed company or intermediary who monitors compliance with securities law, handles investor grievances, and reports non-compliance to SEBI independently.
- Business DayThe PFRDA-defined day on which the Trustee Bank's designated branch, the stock exchanges and the government securities market are all simultaneously open for business.
- Merchant bankerA SEBI-registered body corporate engaged in the business of issue management — arranging the selling, buying or subscribing of securities, or acting as manager, consultant or adviser in relation to an issue.
- Private placement memorandumThe offer document of a Category III AIF, filed with SEBI through a merchant banker at least 30 days before a scheme launches — and the document SEBI comments on but never approves.
- Liquidation PeriodThe 1-year period following expiry of an AIF scheme's tenure or extended tenure, for fully liquidating its assets and distributing the proceeds to investors.
- Intimation to SEBI modelThe PPM filing route for AI-only Funds and LVFs: filed directly with SEBI without a merchant banker or SEBI comments, so schemes can launch immediately on filing (a first scheme only once registered).
- GARUDASEBI's Green Channel: AIF Rollout Upon Document Acknowledgement — the fast-track route that lets an AIF launch a scheme and circulate its PPM 10 working days after filing.
- Regular schemeAn AIF scheme that is not an LVF, an Accredited Investor Only Fund or an Angel Fund — so its PPM must be filed through a merchant banker at least 10 working days before launch.