SEBI asks investment advisors to disclose investor charter, complaint data

They have also been asked to share data regarding complaints received on their websites and mobile apps.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) stated that the disclosure requirements under this circular will be effective from January 01, 2022.

“In order to facilitate investor awareness about the various activities of the investor while availing the services provided by the investment advisors, SEBI has developed an investor charter for investment advisors,” the market regulator said.

It said that all registered investment advisors are advised to prominently display the Investor’s Charter on their websites and mobile applications for the attention of their clients. “Investment advisors who do not have a website or mobile application, as a one-time measure, will send investor charters to investors on their registered e-mail addresses,” it said.

In order to further enhance the transparency in grievance redressal, investment advisors will disclose the details of investor complaints in the revised format by 7th of next month.

It added that investment advisors who do not have a website or mobile app will send the status of investor complaints to their registered email every month.

Investment advisors will also have to display a link or option to lodge a complaint directly on their website and mobile app. Additionally, a link to download the SCORES website or mobile app (SEBI SCORES) may also be provided, it said.

Earlier, SEBI had asked depositories, registrars and share transfer agents (RTAs), merchant bankers, brokers, mutual funds, portfolio managers and alternative investment funds to disclose on its website several categories of investor charters.

Further, it had directed exchanges, depositories and clearing corporations to disclose on their websites the data of complaints received against them and their redressal. This comes after the regulator came out with an investor charter in November.