Hosting a Webinar as a SEBI Research Analyst: What the Rules Allow

A webinar does three jobs. The invitation is an advertisement. The session itself may be education, or it may be research delivery. The registration page collects personal data. Each has its own rule, and a single sloppy slide can break the first two.

Before: the invitation

Treat every public post that promotes the webinar as an advertisement. The code in SEBI's 5 April 2023 circular, in force since 1 May 2023, covers pamphlets, notices, research reports and electronic or audio-visual material. Our advertisement code guide goes through it. Your invite, your thumbnail and your reminder emails all need the same care as any other ad.

• The code requires prior approval from the SEBI-recognised supervisory body (BASL is named for Investment Advisers, and RAs have an equivalent body) before an advertisement is issued. Allow for the turnaround before your publish date. In June 2026 SEBI consulted on a Common Advertisement Code that would replace pre-approval with reporting, but it is a proposal, not the rule in force.
• Show your name, registration number, your supervisory body membership number and the standard disclaimer that SEBI registration and NISM certification do not guarantee performance or returns. Do not use the SEBI logo. See social media disclosure rules.
• No return promises, no "next multibagger" titles, no fear-based urgency, no testimonials that imply profit.
• No superlatives such as "best", "No. 1" or "top analyst", and no misleading testimonials. "SEBI-registered" with the number is the accurate phrase.

During: education or research?

The safest line is to decide in advance which kind of session you are running, and say so on the first slide.

Questions from the chat are the real risk. "Should I buy X now?" asked live, answered live, to an audience of strangers, is a public tip. Have a standard answer: you will not give individual recommendations in the session, and subscribers get research through the official channel.

Showing performance in the session

Do not put a winning-trade slide in a pitch deck. The 2023 advertisement code lists reference to past performance among prohibited content, and the route for certified figures is PaRRVA, which an RA must have enrolled in to communicate certified past performance. Label verified figures as verified. Read advertising past performance after PaRRVA before you build that slide.

After: the data and the record

• The registration list is personal data. Collect only what you need, say what you will do with it, and do not add attendees to a recommendations channel without their consent.
• Keep the recording and the slides. Store the final slides, the recording, the invitation as approved and the attendee list. The advertisement code requires a copy of each advertisement to be kept for five years, and client interaction records follow the same five-year period under SEBI's January 2025 guidelines.
• Follow up through the right channel. A follow-up email is an advertisement too. See email marketing for Research Analysts.

A one-page checklist

1. Decide the format. Educational, subscriber research or paid public. Write it on slide one.
2. Approve the invite. Get pre-approval if the current framework needs it. Add registration number and disclaimer.
3. Script the Q and A answer. No individual recommendations in the session.
4. Screen the slides. No performance cherry-picks, no return promises, no old tips presented as new.
5. Record and archive. Keep slides, recording, invite, and attendee list together.
6. Follow up compliantly. Same rules for the email as the invite.

FAQ

Related reads

• SEBI advertisement code for Research Analysts
• SEBI social media disclosure rules for RAs
• Email marketing for SEBI Research Analysts
• Advertising past performance after PaRRVA