SEBI Research Analyst FAQs: Registration, Fees and Compliance (2026)
The Research Analyst rules have changed three times in eighteen months, and the questions keep coming. This is a plain-English answer to the ones SEBI Research Analysts ask most often in 2026: who has to register, how the RAASB process works, what the NISM certification and the deposit involve, the trading-window rules, the annual audit, and what you have to keep on record. It draws on the regulations, the December 2024 amendments, the July 2025 clarifications and the February 2026 master circular.
Not legal advice. This is a general explainer for SEBI-registered Research Analysts. Rules and fee schedules are revised periodically. Confirm anything time-sensitive against the current SEBI circulars and the RAASB portal, and take professional advice for your own situation.
If you only read one thing: the registration sits with the research entity, everyone touching research needs the NISM certification, the deposit and the annual audit are ongoing not one-time, and the five-year record-keeping rule is the one that quietly catches people out. The questions below go deeper.
Who has to register as a SEBI Research Analyst?
Anyone who, for consideration, produces research reports or makes buy, sell or hold recommendations on securities to clients or the public has to be registered, or be the registered entity behind that research. Under the framework clarified in 2025, it is the research entity that holds the SEBI registration. Individuals who are part of the research process must meet the qualification and certification criteria, but the registration itself sits with the entity offering the service.
What is RAASB and why does it matter?
RAASB is the Research Analyst Administration and Supervisory Body. SEBI delegated the day-to-day administration of Research Analysts to it, and it is operated by BSE. In practice you apply through the RAASB portal, your deposit sits with RAASB, and RAASB handles a large part of supervision and routine interaction. SEBI still grants and can cancel the registration; RAASB administers the regime under SEBI.
How do I actually register? What is the process?
You apply in Form A through the RAASB portal. You attach proof of the qualification and the NISM certification, the registration fee, and the documents that show you meet the eligibility and net-worth-or-deposit criteria. RAASB reviews the application and forwards it to SEBI, and on approval you receive a registration number that you then have to display on your reports and your public profiles. Our step-by-step walk-through is in the registration guide linked at the end.
What qualification and certification do I need?
You need the graduate-level qualification SEBI specifies (a degree or post-graduate qualification in finance, accountancy, business, economics, capital markets or a related field, or an equivalent professional qualification), plus the NISM Series-XV Research Analyst certification. Everyone associated with the research-generation process has to hold the relevant NISM certification, not just the principal.
How long is the NISM certification valid and how do I renew it?
The NISM Series-XV Research Analyst certification is valid for three years. You renew it either by passing the certification examination again before it expires or by completing the prescribed Continuing Professional Education (CPE) programme within the validity window. Let it lapse and you are no longer certified to carry on the research activity, so track the expiry date the way you would track a licence.
There was a deadline for existing staff to get NISM certified. What was it?
The July 2025 clarification gave persons associated with research services a window of one year from the date of the circular to obtain the relevant NISM certification, which works out to 23 July 2026. If you have associated persons working on research who are not yet certified, that is the date to plan around.
What does registration cost?
For an individual or a partnership firm the application fee and the registration fee are in the low thousands of rupees; for a body corporate or LLP the registration fee is materially higher and runs into lakhs. SEBI also charges periodic fees over the registration period. Because these figures are revised from time to time, confirm the current schedule on the SEBI fee table and the RAASB portal before you budget. Our fees guide breaks down the typical all-in cost of a practice.
Is there still a net-worth requirement, or is it a deposit now?
SEBI moved Research Analysts onto a deposit model that scales with the number of clients you serve, replacing the old flat net-worth test for many RAs. The deposit is maintained with RAASB, and SEBI has allowed it to be held in permitted forms including certain liquid instruments. The slabs and the maintenance rules are covered in detail in our deposit guide; the key point is that this is an ongoing obligation, not a one-time payment.
What are the trading-window restrictions for a Research Analyst?
A Research Analyst must not trade in a security that is the subject of a recommendation during a blackout window around the report, and must not trade contrary to their own live recommendation. The standard window is no dealing in the recommended security for 30 days before and 5 days after the research report or recommendation. You also have to disclose your own holding in any security you write about.
Can I be a part-time Research Analyst or also do something else?
Yes. You can run research alongside other work, and you can hold more than one SEBI registration (for example RA and a mutual-fund distributor role) as long as you keep the activities segregated, disclose the arrangement, and manage the conflict of interest. What you cannot do is blur the line between factual research and the kind of personalised, ongoing advice that requires Investment Adviser registration. The RA-versus-RIA distinction is covered in its own guide.
What is MITC and when do I have to share it?
MITC stands for Most Important Terms and Conditions: a standardised summary of the scope of your service, the fees, the risks, what you will and will not do, and the client’s rights. You have to share it and get the client’s explicit acceptance before you begin the service, and you have to keep proof of that acceptance. It is meant to be plain and consistent across the industry so a client can understand what they are signing up for at a glance.
What KYC and onboarding records do I need to keep?
You have to complete KYC for every client (identity, PAN, and the standard checks), capture their acceptance of the MITC and the client agreement, and keep the consent and risk records. Onboarding is the moment most record-keeping gaps are created, so the practical answer is to run a repeatable digital flow and store every artefact. Our digital-KYC and client-onboarding guides cover the workflow end to end.
What is the annual compliance audit and when is it due?
Every Research Analyst has to complete an annual compliance audit covering adherence to the regulations. It has to be done within six months of the close of the financial year, with the report submitted within a month of completion, in any case by 31 October. Adverse findings have to be addressed, and the audit is exactly the moment your records get tested, so the time to get them in order is well before the auditor arrives.
How long do I have to keep my records?
Five years. That covers research reports, the rationale behind each recommendation, your client communications across channels (including the messages you send on WhatsApp, email and SMS), KYC and consent documents, and the books of account. The records have to be retrievable and, in practice, defensible: you should be able to show what you said, to whom, and when, in a form that has not been edited after the fact. This is why an editable spreadsheet alone does not satisfy the rule.
Do I have to disclose where I use AI in my research?
Yes, the direction of travel is clear: if a tool drafts or materially shapes your research, you disclose that AI was used and you remain fully responsible for the output. AI does not dilute your accountability as the registered analyst. The practical move is a short, standard AI-use disclosure in your reports plus a human review-and-sign step before anything goes to a client. We cover the wording in the AI-disclosure guide.
How do I handle investor complaints?
You have to give clients a clear complaints route, log every complaint, resolve it within the SEBI timelines, and escalate unresolved ones through SCORES and the online dispute resolution (ODR) mechanism. You also have to publish a periodic complaints disclosure. The complaints process and the disclosure format are covered in the SCORES and complaints-handling guide.
Why do the rules keep changing, and how do I keep up?
The Research Analyst regime has moved quickly: the 2014 regulations, the December 2024 amendments, the July 2025 FAQs, and a revised master circular in February 2026. SEBI is actively tightening disclosure, record-keeping and audit, partly in response to misleading tips and assured-return claims. The way to keep up without living on the SEBI site is a compliance calendar that lists each recurring obligation and its date, which we maintain as a living guide.
Where the day-to-day work actually goes
Most of these answers come down to the same two chores done well: writing factual, properly disclosed research, and keeping a record you can stand behind for five years. That is the part a research desk is built to take off your plate. Filings that touch your clients surface automatically, a factual note drafts in seconds for you to review and sign, the send goes out white-label, and every note is hashed and timestamped into an audit trail you can export in one click when the annual audit or an inspection asks. You stay the registered analyst making the call; the paperwork stops being the thing that eats your morning.