SEBI Floats Proposal To Exempt Research Analysts From Maintaining Call Recordings With Institutional Investors

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has proposed exempting research analysts from maintaining call recordings of interactions with institutional investors, while retaining the requirement for retail clients.

In a consultation paper issued on Monday, the market regulator said the proposal follows requests from market participants to review the requirement of recording calls with institutional investors under the research analysts regulatory framework.

At present, Regulation 25(1)(vii) of the Research Analysts Regulations requires research analysts to maintain records of communications with clients, including emails and call recordings. The Master Circular for research analysts also requires maintenance of interaction records such as physical records, telephone recordings, emails, SMS records and other legally verifiable records.

SEBI said the Industry Standards Forum for Research Analysts (RA-ISF), in its recommendations, had stated that institutional investors are “sophisticated entities” with the expertise and resources to independently assess research inputs and investment opportunities.

“The requirement of recording for client interactions is primarily intended to protect the interest of investors by facilitating supervisory oversight. As compared to retail investors, institutional investors are more likely to be aware about their legal rights and the regulatory mechanisms available to protect their rights,” SEBI said in the consultation paper.

In view of this, the regulator has proposed that research analysts dealing with institutional investors should continue maintaining records of interactions through physical records, emails, SMS and other legally verifiable records, but need not maintain call recordings.

However, the existing requirement to maintain all interaction records, including call recordings, for retail client interactions will continue unchanged.

SEBI has also proposed introducing a definition of “institutional investor” in the Research Analysts Regulations by adopting the meaning assigned to the term under the SEBI (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2018.

Public comments on the consultation paper have been invited till June 8, 2026.