Can a chartered accountant register as a part-time research analyst?
Yes. SEBI lists a member of ICAI, ICSI or ICMAI doing statutory work as an example of a part-time research analyst (or research advisor), as long as the other work is unrelated to securities and involves no client money.
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A part-time Research Analyst is an individual or partnership firm that also runs another business or holds another job. SEBI's January 2025 guidelines name a member of ICAI, ICSI or ICMAI providing statutory services as one of the people who can qualify. The category came in with the December 2024 amendments.
The conditions that apply to a CA
- Your other work (audit, tax, company law filings) must be unrelated to securities.
- It must not involve handling or managing client money.
- It must not involve advising anyone on products or assets for investment.
- You cannot be in the business of advising on gold, real estate or cryptocurrency.
- You hold the same qualification and NISM certification as a full-time analyst, and give an undertaking that the two activities are kept at arm's length.
Where a CA's own work crosses the line
SEBI's illustration on this point is useful. A chartered accountant who gives incidental securities advice inside tax planning does not need registration. A chartered accountant who gives security-specific recommendations does. If you already tell clients which shares to buy, the question you are really answering is how to register, and part-time registration is the route SEBI built for people in your position.
Note
The Investment Adviser circular words this illustration slightly differently from the Research Analyst circular, so we quote each to its own document when we scope an application.
What changes once you register
You use the words "part-time research analyst" in all correspondence with clients. Invoices and material for your other services carry a disclaimer in a font size of at least 10 saying that activity is outside SEBI's purview. Your application goes to BSE Limited, which acts as the Research Analyst Administration and Supervisory Body, in Form A.
- 1.SEBI circular SEBI/HO/MIRSD/MIRSD-PoD-1/P/CIR/2025/004 dated 8 January 2025, Guidelines for Research Analysts
- 2.SEBI circular SEBI/HO/MIRSD/MIRSD-PoD/P/CIR/2025/105 dated 23 July 2025, FAQs for Research Analysts
- 3.SEBI Master Circular for Research Analysts, HO/38/12/11(1)2026-MIRSD-PoD/I/4360/2026 dated 6 February 2026
We handle the documentation and filing: Research Analyst registration
Sources read on 28 October 2026. SEBI revises these requirements, so we re-confirm every figure against the current circular before it goes into an application.
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