3 June 2026
SEBI issues a new Master Circular for AIFs, superseding the 2024 compilation and consolidating everything up to 31 May 2026
What is the current SEBI Master Circular for Alternative Investment Funds?
The Master Circular for AIFs dated 3 June 2026, reference HO/19/34/11(6)2025-AFD-POD1/I/12928/2026. It supersedes the Master Circular dated 7 May 2024 and compiles every circular issued under the AIF Regulations up to 31 May 2026. It was last updated on 30 July 2026 and runs to 153 pages.
What changed
SEBI issued a new Master Circular for Alternative Investment Funds on 3 June 2026, under reference HO/19/34/11(6)2025-AFD-POD1/I/12928/2026. It is addressed to all Alternative Investment Funds, all custodians, all depositories, and all registrars to an issue and share transfer agents.
It supersedes the previous Master Circular, No. SEBI/HO/AFD-1/AFD-1-PoD/P/CIR/2024/39 dated 7 May 2024, which had compiled circulars issued up to 31 March 2024. The new one carries the compilation forward to 31 May 2026 and runs to 153 pages.
What it says about the circulars it replaces
Paragraph 4 rescinds the directions and instructions in every circular listed in Annexure 24, to the extent they relate to AIFs. Paragraph 5 then preserves everything that happened under them. Anything done or purported to be done under a rescinded circular is deemed done under the corresponding provision of the Master Circular. A pending application is deemed made under it. And any right, privilege, obligation, liability, penalty, investigation, legal proceeding or remedy already acquired, accrued or incurred survives and stays enforceable "as if the rescinded circulars had continued to be in force."
That is standard consolidation drafting, and it matters for the same reason it always does: a manager mid-way through a process begun under an older circular does not restart it.
Already updated twice
A master circular is a moving document, and this one moved within weeks of issue. Paragraph 3 records two updates:
- The circular dated 16 June 2026, reference HO/19/34/11(2)2026-AFD-POD1/I/13764/2026, on Guidelines for winding up of AIFs with respect to retention of proceeds and 'Inoperative Fund' status.
- The circular dated 30 July 2026, reference HO/19/19/11(2)2026-AFD-RAC2/I/17617/2026, establishing the GARUDA mechanism for processing placement memoranda.
The document's own footer gives a last-updated date of 30 July 2026, two months after the issue date on its face.
Who this reaches
Every AIF and every service provider named in the address block. In practice it matters most to whoever maintains a compliance calendar: the operative text for any AIF circular obligation is now in one place, and a reference to the 2024 Master Circular is a reference to a superseded document.
What is not settled
The two-date structure — issued 3 June, last updated 30 July — is a permanent feature of how SEBI maintains master circulars, and it means a copy downloaded on any given day is a snapshot. There is no version history on the face of the document beyond paragraph 3. Anyone citing a specific paragraph should record the last-updated date alongside it.
Sources
- Master Circular for Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) — HO/19/34/11(6)2025-AFD-POD1/I/12928/2026 — SEBI, 3 June 2026 · primary
- Master Circular for Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs), full text, 153 pages, last updated 30 July 2026 — SEBI, 30 July 2026 · primary
Dated 3 June 2026, last checked against source 25 August 2026. The dateline is the date of the instrument this item reports, not the date the page was written. This page reports what a document says. It is information, not legal, tax or investment advice, and it is not a recommendation about any fund.