Direct trading on the India International Bullion Exchange (IIBX) is over. The International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) has ended the Special Category Client (SCC) route that let certain participants deal directly on the exchange's trading system without going through a Bullion Trading Member. From 27 October 2026, the rule is blunt: no participant — including a nominated bank — may trade on IIBX unless it is a client of a Bullion Trading Member.
In plain business-owner language: if your bank or bullion desk used to buy or sell gold or silver directly on India's international bullion exchange, that direct seat is gone. From now on you trade through a member firm, the way most exchange trading works. Participants that already hold SCC status get a short runway — direct trading continues only until 13 November 2026 — and after that the door closes.
At a glance
- Circular: IFSCA — "Review of SCC framework for trading on IIBX", File No. IFSCA-PMTS/10/2023-Precious Metals/2026/7, dated 27 October 2026
- Effective: Immediate effect from 27 October 2026
- The new rule: No participant, including a nominated bank, trades on IIBX unless it is a client of a Bullion Trading Member
- Transition deadline: Existing SCCs may trade directly only until 13 November 2026
- Legal basis: Sections 12 and 13 of the IFSCA Act, 2019, read with Regulation 78 of the IFSCA (Bullion Market) Regulations, 2025
- Issued by: Ramaneesh Goyal, General Manager, Market Regulation Division, Department of Metals and Commodities, IFSCA
What happened
IFSCA issued the circular on 27 October 2026, reviewing the SCC framework for trading on IIBX, the bullion exchange operating in GIFT IFSC. The circular is short — two pages — but it reverses a structural feature of the market: until now, participants that met certain additional eligibility criteria were permitted to access the IIBX trading system directly, without the requirement of a Bullion Trading Member. Those participants were designated as Special Category Clients (SCCs).
That permission is now withdrawn. The circular's operative rule states that no participant, including a nominated bank, shall henceforth trade on IIBX unless it is a client of a Bullion Trading Member. There is one transitional exception: participants already notified by IFSCA and/or onboarded by IIBX as SCCs as on the date of the circular may continue to trade directly on IIBX until 13 November 2026. After that date, the exception expires and the member-only rule applies to everyone.
The circular states no monetary threshold, no volume limit and no fee. The only date in it, apart from its own date, is the 13 November 2026 transition deadline. It was issued under Sections 12 and 13 of the IFSCA Act, 2019, read with Regulation 78 of the IFSCA (Bullion Market) Regulations, 2025, and it came into force with immediate effect.
Old vs new: what actually changes
Who is affected
The circular is addressed to five groups, and together they cover effectively the whole IIBX ecosystem:
- Banks authorised by the RBI to import gold or silver — including nominated banks, which the circular names expressly. There is no carve-out for banks: a bank that traded directly as an SCC must now trade as a client of a Bullion Trading Member once the transition ends.
- Bullion Market Infrastructure Institutions (MIIs) in the IFSC — the exchange and clearing infrastructure itself must enforce the new access rule.
- Bullion intermediaries in the IFSC — firms between clients and the exchange now sit at the centre of every trade, since all trading must flow through a Bullion Trading Member.
- Vault Managers in the IFSC — the custodians of the physical metal behind exchange trades, whose clients' trading route changes even though vaulting itself is untouched by this circular.
- All market participants on the Bullion Exchange in the IFSC — the catch-all that leaves no room for a residual direct-access category.
The practical reach is wider than the addressee list alone suggests, because the framework under review spans several participant routes. The circular draws reference to the 10 October 2025 circular on import of gold or silver by Qualified Jewellers and valid India-UAE CEPA Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ) holders through IIBX (as amended, last updated 22 September 2026), the 19 April 2024 circular on import of gold and silver by Indian banks through IIBX, and the 18 August 2022 circular on "Qualified Suppliers" for supply of bullion on IIBX (as amended, last updated 1 May 2024). Any participant that holds direct-access SCC status under those frameworks is caught by the new rule and by the same 13 November 2026 transition deadline.
The deadline is the story
The transition window runs from 27 October to 13 November 2026. That is barely two and a half weeks to move a trading relationship: select a Bullion Trading Member, complete onboarding and documentation, re-route order flow and confirm clearing arrangements. Any SCC that has not finished that work by 13 November faces a hard stop on direct trading — not a penalty, but an inability to trade at all until the member route is in place.
What to do next
If your firm trades on IIBX today, work through this checklist before 13 November 2026:
- Confirm your status. Check whether your firm was notified by IFSCA and/or onboarded by IIBX as an SCC as on 27 October 2026. Only those firms get the transition window; anyone else is already under the member-only rule.
- Pick a Bullion Trading Member now. Do not wait until the last week. Member onboarding, documentation and systems connectivity all take time, and every other former SCC will be doing the same thing at the same time.
- Re-route order flow and confirm clearing. Orders that used to go straight to the trading system must now pass through the member. Confirm who clears, who settles and what cut-offs apply under the new route.
- Brief the front office and treasury. Traders and treasury desks that are used to direct access need to know that direct orders will stop working after 13 November 2026, and which member desk replaces that access.
- Review standing instructions and mandates. Any mandate, power of attorney or systems permission that assumed direct SCC access should be updated to reflect trading as a client of a Bullion Trading Member.
- Do not assume an extension. The circular fixes 13 November 2026 as the end of direct trading for existing SCCs. It contains no provision for extension, and no further circular has been issued on this point.
For Bullion Trading Members, the change runs the other way: expect onboarding demand from former SCCs in the next two weeks, and be ready for clients — including banks — that have never traded through an intermediary on IIBX before.
What the circular does not change
- Import authorisations are untouched. The circular changes only the trading-access route on IIBX. It does not amend who may import gold or silver, or the conditions of any RBI import authorisation.
- No new threshold, fee or volume rule. The circular prescribes no monetary limit, no fee and no volume condition. Anyone quoting a new SCC fee or limit from this circular is inventing it.
- No change to vaulting or clearing mechanics beyond the route. The circular does not rewrite how trades clear or how metal is vaulted; it requires only that trades pass through a Bullion Trading Member.
- No reason is stated. The circular records the review and the new rule; it does not publish a policy rationale. Commentary on why IFSCA moved should be read as analysis, not as the regulator's stated reason.
Why it matters
IIBX, in GIFT IFSC, is India's dedicated international bullion exchange — the venue through which banks, jewellers and other participants import and trade gold and silver. Direct access was a privilege that cut out the intermediary: an eligible participant dealt on the system in its own right. Removing it concentrates every trade through Bullion Trading Members. For large banks the adjustment is operational — a new routing and clearing relationship. For smaller direct participants the adjustment is existential in the short term: without a member in place by 13 November 2026, they cannot trade.
The short transition also matters for market structure. A two-and-a-half-week window to re-paper an entire access model will test member onboarding capacity, and any participant that misses the deadline drops out of the market until it is onboarded. Readers with IIBX exposure should treat 13 November 2026 as a trading-continuity deadline, not a compliance formality.
The framework behind the change
The 27 October 2026 circular does not stand alone. It reviews a framework built up across three earlier instruments, all cited in its own references:
- 18 August 2022 — "Qualified Suppliers" for supply of bullion on IIBX (as amended, last updated 1 May 2024).
- 19 April 2024 — Import of gold and silver by Indian banks through IIBX.
- 10 October 2025 — Import of gold or silver by Qualified Jewellers and valid India-UAE CEPA TRQ holders through IIBX (as amended, last updated 22 September 2026).
Under those instruments, participants meeting additional eligibility criteria had been permitted direct access to the IIBX trading system without a Bullion Trading Member, and were designated Special Category Clients. The 27 October 2026 circular ends that arrangement, subject only to the 13 November 2026 transition for existing SCCs.
Frequently asked questions
Can my bank still trade directly on IIBX?
Only until 13 November 2026, and only if it was notified by IFSCA and/or onboarded by IIBX as an SCC as on 27 October 2026. After that date, every participant — including nominated banks — must trade as a client of a Bullion Trading Member.
We are an existing SCC. What exactly is our deadline?
13 November 2026. The circular permits participants already holding SCC status as on 27 October 2026 to continue trading directly until that date. It does not provide for an extension.
Does this stop banks from importing gold or silver?
No. The circular changes the trading route on IIBX, not import eligibility or any RBI import authorisation. What changes is how an authorised importer trades on the exchange: through a Bullion Trading Member, not directly.
Who issued the circular, and under what power?
IFSCA, under Sections 12 and 13 of the IFSCA Act, 2019, read with Regulation 78 of the IFSCA (Bullion Market) Regulations, 2025. It came into force with immediate effect on 27 October 2026.
Does the circular apply to qualified jewellers too?
The rule is framed for "no participant", and the circular is addressed to all market participants on the bullion exchange in the IFSC. A qualified jeweller holding direct-access SCC status therefore falls under the same rule and the same 13 November 2026 transition, not under a separate regime.
Is there a new fee or threshold for trading through a member?
The circular prescribes none. Any fee or commercial term for trading as a member's client is a matter between the participant and the Bullion Trading Member, not something this circular sets.
Sources
- IFSCA Circular — "Review of SCC framework for trading on IIBX", File No. IFSCA-PMTS/10/2023-Precious Metals/2026/7, dated 27 October 2026 (official IFSCA PDF): IFSCA official circular PDF
- IFSCA New Section listing (27/10/2026 circular row): IFSCA — New Section
