SEBI Research Analyst Registration: Eligibility Requirements and Procedure

SEBI Research Analysts Regulation defines Research Analyst as a person who is responsible for the preparation or publication of the research report content or who provides research report or gives price target or offers an opinion concerning public offer with respect to securities listed or to be listed in a stock exchange regardless of such person having the job title of research analyst and includes entities engaged in the issuance of research report or research analysis. If you register with SEBI as an individual, then the term Independent Research Analyst is used, and when you register as non-individual then the term Research Entity is used. Let’s discuss SEBI Research Analyst Registration in detail.

What is a Research report?

It refers to any written or electric communication, including research analysis or research recommendation or an opinion concerning securities or public offer which serves as a basis for investment decision.

Eligibility criteria for SEBI Research Analyst Registration

The eligibility criteria can be categorised into the following:

• Qualification;
• Certification;
• Net Worth.

Qualification-

In order to obtain registration, the applicant needs to have:

• A professional qualification or PG degree or post graduate diploma in finance, accountancy, commerce, economics, business management, capital market, financial services, or markets or;
• Professional qualification or PG degree or PG diploma accredited by All Indian Council for Technical Education, NAAC or National Board of Accreditation or any other council/board/body formed under an Act of Parliament in India for the said purpose or;
• A professional qualification by doing a PG program in the Securities Market from NISM for a duration of minimum 1 year or;
• A graduate in any discipline with minimum experience of 5 years in activities relating to the financial products or markets or securities or fund or asset or portfolio management.

Certification

The research analysts registered with SEBI^[1] and partners of research analyst should be having a NISM certification for research analysts as required by the Board or other certification recognized by the Board.

Net Worth/Capital Adequacy

Before looking at the net worth requirements, let’s understand the meaning of net worth.

Net worth refers to the aggregate value of paid-up share capital plus free reserves, not including the reserves created out of revaluation, reduced by the aggregate value of accumulated losses.

You must have a Net-worth certificate from a CA and such certificate at the time of filing application should not be more than 6 months old.

Further, a research analyst who is an individual or partnership firm should have a net tangible assets of value more than 1 lakh rupees.

A research analyst who is a body corporate or is a LLP firm should have a net worth of not less than 25 Lakh rupees.

SEBI Research Analyst Registration: Documents Required

At the time of filing application, you will have to submit some documents also. Few of the documents are submitted with the application and some documents may be asked for during the processing of the application. The documents required may vary from one applicant to the other. However, some common documents to be filed during application submission and processing are as follows:

• Proof of identity and address like PAN and Aadhaar card;
• Qualification certificate such as Graduation or Post Graduation Certificate, Experience Certificate and NISM certificate
• Net Worth Certificate from Chartered Accountant;
• ITR of last three years;
• Declarations

1. Declaration of Compliance to Relevant Clauses of Chapter III of the Regulations;
2. Declaration of Compliance with Schedule II, SEBI Regulations (specifying the 4 criteria)
3. Declaration of Compliance with Regulation 7 (1)- Research Analysts Regulations 2014
4. Declaration of Compliance with Regulation 7 (2)- Research Analysts Regulations 2014
5. Declaration of Necessary Infrastructure Availability.

• Details regarding availability of infrastructure for research analyst services are asked, along with supporting documents. Details regarding office space, furniture, and fixtures, software configuration, hardware configuration, software support, hardware support etc., is sought to know about infrastructure facility availability with the applicant.
• Standard Disclosures and Internal policy and procedures related documents also need to be submitted along with the registration application;
• Business plan and current activities details may also need to be submitted.

Fee for SEBI Research Analyst Registration

While filing the application, the applicant needs to pay a non-refundable application fee. Once the registration is approved, the applicant also needs to pay the Registration Fee to secure the registration and to obtain the printed certificate. Please find the fee structure below-

Applicant Category	Application Fees (in INR)	Registration Fees  (in INR)
Individuals and Partnership Firms	Five Thousand Rupees	Ten Thousand Rupees
LLPs and Body Corporate	Fifty Thousand Rupees	Five Lakh Rupees
Proxy Advisers	Five Thousand Rupees	Ten Thousand Rupees

Procedure for SEBI Research Analyst Registration

The procedure is as follows:

• Make an application to SEBI in Form A;
• Submit the required documents along with the application and pay the prescribed application fee;
• Clarification may be sought by SEBI in some matters hence you need to reply;
• SEBI may approve the application;
• Then you need to pay the registration fee, and finally the registration certificate is issued by the SEBI.

Conclusion

The applicant applying for SEBI Research Analyst Registration should meet all eligibility requirements in terms of Qualification, Net worth requirements and Certification. Once you have all these requirements in place, then only it is advisable to proceed with your application filing process.

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