A circular dated December 13, 2021 bearing No. SEBI/HO/IMD/IMD-II CIS/P/CIR/2021/0685 published by the Securities and Exchange Board of India in the Regulatory Authority’s website with regard to Research Analysts (RA) states about publishing of Investor Charter and disclosure of Investor Complaints by Research Analysts. As a matter of practice, the Research Analysts, by virtue of this circular are now required to facilitate investor awareness about the various activities which an Analyst deals with while availing the services provided by RAs. It is an Investor Charter for Research Analysts.
This Charter is to be brought to the notice of all clients of the Research Analyst. This Investor Charter should be attached as Annexure – A prominently on the websites and mobile applications of RAs. In the event that the Ras don’t have websites / mobile application, the Investor Charter should be sent to all the customers on their registered e-mail addresses as a one-time measure to create awareness about activities that an RA is involved in.
Also, all RAs are required to disclose all complaints, including SCORES complaints received by them in their respective mobile applications / websites. It should be done in the format mentioned in Annexure – B to the circular on a monthly basis. Research Analysts who don’t have websites / mobile applications should send the status of Investor Complaints to the investor on their registered e-mail address on a monthly basis.
This circular has been in effect from January 1, 2022. In view of the same, the RAs who have not yet complied with the same are requested to do so with immediate effect. The circulars along with the Annexures A and B are also extracted herewith for ready reference.
Annexure – A
Investor Charter in respect of Research Analyst (RA)
1. Vision and Mission Statements for investors.
- Vision
Invest with knowledge & safety.
- Mission
Every investor should be able to invest in right investment products based on their needs, manage and monitor them to meet their goals, access reports and enjoy financial wellness.
2. Details of business transacted by the Research Analyst with respect to the investors.
- To publish research report based on the research activities of the RA.
- To provide an independent unbiased view on securities.
- To offer unbiased recommendation, disclosing the financial interests in
- recommended securities.
- To provide research recommendation, based on analysis of publicly
- available information and known observations.
- To conduct audit annually.
3. Details of services provided to investors (No Indicative Timelines)
- Onboarding of Clients.
- Disclosure to Clients
- To distribute research reports and recommendations to the clients without discrimination.
- To maintain confidentiality w.r.t publication of the research report until made available in the public domain.
4. Details of grievance redressal mechanism and how to access it
In case of any grievance / complaint, an investor should approach the concerned research analyst and shall ensure that the grievance is resolved within 30 days.
If the investor’s complaint is not redressed satisfactorily, one may lodge a complaint with SEBI on SEBI’s SCORES portal which is a centralized web-based complaints redressal system. SEBI takes up the complaints registered via SCORES with the concerned intermediary for timely redressal. SCORES facilitates tracking the status of the complaint.
With regard to physical complaints, investors may send their complaints to: Office of Investor Assistance and Education, Securities and Exchange Board of India, SEBI Bhavan. Plot No. C4-A, ‘G’ Block, Bandra-Kurla Complex, Bandra (E), Mumbai – 400 051.
5. Expectations from the investors (Responsibilities of investors).
- Do’s
1. Always deal with SEBI registered Research Analyst.
2. Ensure that the Research Analyst has a valid registration certificate.
3. Check for SEBI registration number.
4. Please refer to the list of all SEBI registered Research Analysts which is available on SEBI website in the following link:
https://www.sebi.gov.in/sebiweb/other/OtherAction.do?doRecognisedFpi=yes&intmId=14
5. Always pay attention towards disclosures made in the research reports before investing.
6. Pay your Research Analyst through banking channels only and maintain duly signed receipts mentioning the details of your payments.
7. Before buying securities or applying in public offer, check for the research recommendation provided by your research Analyst.
8. Ask all relevant questions and clear your doubts with your Research Analyst before acting on the recommendation.
9. Inform SEBI about Research Analyst offering assured or guaranteed returns.
- Don’ts
- Do not provide funds for investment to the Research Analyst.
- Don’t fall prey to luring advertisements or market rumours.
- Do not get attracted to limited period discount or other incentive, gifts, etc. offered by Research Analyst.
- Do not share login credentials and password of your trading and DEMAT accounts with the Research Analyst.
Annexure- B
Complaint Data to be displayed by Ras
Data for the month ending -__________
| Sr. No. | Received From | Pending at the end of last month | Received | Resolved* | Total Pending# | Pending complaints > 3months | Average resolution time^ (in days) | |
| 1. | Directly from Investors | |||||||
| 2. | SEBI (SCORES) | |||||||
| 3. | Other sources (if any) | |||||||
| Grand Total |
^ Average Resolution time is the sum total of time taken to resolve each complaint in days, in the current month divided by total number of complaints resolved in the current month.
Trend of annual disposal of complaints
| SN | Year | Carried forward from previous year | Received | Resolved* | Pending# |
| 1. | 2018-19 | ||||
| 2. | 2019-20 | ||||
| 3. | 2020-21 | ||||
| Grand
Total |
*Inclusive of complaints of previous years resolved in the current year.
#Inclusive of complaints pending as on the last day of the year.
This article is written by Fateen Taariq, a student of Ramaiah College of Law, IVth Year B.Com LLB.
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