SEBI Exempts Research Analysts From Mandatory Call Recording Of Institutional Investor Interactions

The Securities and Exchange Board of India on Friday relaxed the requirement for Research Analysts and Research Entities to maintain call recordings of communications with institutional investor clients.

Regulation 25(1)(vii) of the SEBI (Research Analysts) Regulations, 2014 requires Research Analysts and Research Entities to maintain records of client communications, including call recordings. SEBI has now revised its Master Circular dated February 6, 2026, to exempt communications with institutional investors from the mandatory call recording requirement.

Under the revised provisions, Research Analysts must maintain records of interactions with all clients, including prospective clients before onboarding, where a conversation related to their services has taken place. These records may include client-signed physical documents, call recordings, emails from registered email IDs, SMS messages or any other legally verifiable records.

The records must be maintained for five years. Where a dispute has been raised, the records must be retained until resolution of the dispute. Records that SEBI directs to be preserved must be retained until further intimation from the regulator.

SEBI has clarified that client interaction records must be maintained for both fee paying and non-fee paying clients. However, call recordings are not mandatory for interactions conducted through means such as email, where a digital footprint is available.

The circular will come into effect from November 8, 2026.