Measures to strengthen the conduct of Investment Advisers (IA)

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CIRCULAR
SEBI/HO/IMD/DF1/CIR/P/2019/169 December 27, 2019 All Investment Advisers Sir/Madam, Subject: Measures to strengthen the conduct of Investment Advisers (IA)

1. Securities and Exchange Board of India (Investment Advisers) Regulations, 2013 (IA
   Regulations) provides for code of conduct to be followed by IAs. In order to further strengthen the conduct of IAs, while providing investment advice and to protect the interest of investors seeking their advice, the IAs shall comply with the following:
   (i) Restriction on free trial
   As per SEBI (Investment Advisers) Regulations, 2013, investment advice can be given after completing risk profiling of the client and ensuring suitability of the product. It has come to the notice that IAs are providing advice on free trial basis without considering risk profile of the client. Hence the IAs shall not provide free trial for any products/services to prospective clients. Further, IAs shall not accept part payments (where some part of the fee is paid in advance) for any product/service. (ii) Proper risk profiling and consent of client on risk profiling Risk profiling of the client is essential to provide advice on suitable product based on various criteria like income, age, securities market experience etc. RIAs shall provide investment advice only after completing the following steps:
   a. Complete the risk profile of the client based on information provided by the client. b. Obtain consent of the client on completed risk profile either through registered email or physical document.

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(iii) Receiving fees though banking channel only It is observed that investment advisers are receiving advisory fee in the form of cash deposit in their bank accounts or through payment gateways which does not provide proper audit trail of fees received from the clients. To bring transparency in dealing with the clients, IAs shall accept fees strictly by account payee crossed cheques / demand draft or by way of direct credit into their bank account through NEFT/ RTGS/IMPS/UPI. It is clarified that, IAs shall not accept cash deposits. (iv) Display of complaints status on website In order to bring more transparency and enable the investors to take informed decision regarding availing of advisory services, IAs shall display the following information on the homepage (without scrolling) of their website/mobile app. The information should be displayed properly using font size of 12 or above and made available on monthly basis (within 7 days of end of the previous month):
Number of complaints
At the beginning of the month
Received during the month
Resolved during the month
Pending at the end of the month
Reasons for pendency
2. The measures as referred above shall come into effect from January 01, 2020.
3. This circular is issued in exercise of the powers conferred under Section 11(1) of the Securities
and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992, to protect the interests of investors in securities and to promote the development of and to regulate the securities market. Yours faithfully, Naveen Sharma General Manager 022-26449709 Email: naveens@sebi.gov.in