FEMA (Guarantees) Regulations, 2026: Returns, Reporting Requirements & Timelines Explained

FEMA (Guarantees) Regulations, 2026: Returns, Reporting Requirements & Timelines Explained

The Reserve Bank of India(RBI) has introduced Foreign Exchange Management (Guarantees) Regulations, 2026 with effective from 1^st April, 2026 with an objective of standardized Reporting Mechanism.

Key Objective:-

1. To enable the Reserve Bank of India(RBI) to monitor all the guarantees in order to track foreign exchange exposure in india.
2. To create standardised database through CIMS of guarantee issued, modification and invocation.
3. To ensure proper transparency, monitoring of guarantee.
4. To ensure all transactions follow FEMA Provisions and reported on timely manner.
5. To track guarantee from various GRN Form.
6. To regulate cross border financial commitments.

Reporting Forms Introduced (Regulation7)

• Form GRN Issue – For reporting issuance of Guarantee.
• Form GRN Modification’ – For reporting any subsequent change in guarantee terms, namely – guarantee amount, extension of period or pre-closure.
• Form GRN Invocation’ – For reporting invocation of guarantee.

CIMS Reporting Framework:

The authorised dealer bank are required:

• to submit the returns to the Reserve Bank of India
• within 30 calendar days from the end of the respective quarter
• through Centralised Information Management System (CIMS) (URL: https://sankalan.rbi.org.in).

ILLUSTRATION:

• Suppose Quarter ended on 30^th June 2026 then return to be filed upto 30^th July 2026 through CIMS portal.

Unique Guarantee Transaction Number

• Every guarantee reported has been assigned Unique Guarantee Transaction Number to have a track record of guarantee.

Computation of Late Submission Fees  

• When guarantee is invoked, liability created on the surety and surety has to paid to creditor.
• For Delayed reporting of ‘Form GRN Issue’ and ‘Form GRN Modification’, ‘A’ shall be considered to be ‘Nil’ since these returns do not capture flows.

ILLUSTRATION:

• Suppose guarantee amount is 10 lakh, invoke amount is 6 lakh then amount payable is 6 lakh rupees only .

Conclusion

• The FEMA (Guarantees) Regulations, 2026 introduce a strict, structured, and quarterly return filing system ensuring that RBI gets complete visibility of cross-border guarantees, from issuance to invocation.

Reference: RBI/2026-27/02 | A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No. 01 dated 01.04.2026