When do SEBI research analysts and investment advisers renew their NISM certificate?

4 min read

IA and RASEBI registration

A research analyst renews with NISM Series XV-B before the validity of the certification expires. An investment adviser (or advisor) renews with Series X-C. The compliance officer of a company, LLP or firm also holds Series III-A alongside the track's own set.

Want this checked against your own position? We handle the documentation and the filing.

Registration rests on certification, and certification carries a validity date. SEBI's January 2025 guidelines name the renewal exam for each track. For a research analyst the timing is written in: Series XV at registration, and Series XV-B before the validity of the certification expires.

Who	To register	To renew
Research Analyst	NISM-Series-XV	NISM-Series-XV-B
Investment Adviser	NISM-Series-X-A and X-B	NISM-Series-X-C
Compliance officer of a company, LLP or firm	NISM-Series-III-A with the track's own set	Keeps each certificate in the set valid

Who has to renew

You, if you are registered as an individual. Your own certificate is the one the registration relies on.
Your compliance officer, if the registrant is a company, LLP or partnership firm. The research analyst set is XV, XV-B and III-A. The adviser set is X-A, X-B, X-C and III-A.
The principal officer, partners and persons associated with research or advice. None of them holds a registration of their own, and each still meets the regulation 7 qualification and certification requirements.

When to sit the exam

The guidelines tie XV-B to the expiry of the certification, so the date on your current certificate sets the deadline. Book the renewal early enough to retake it once if you have to. For advisers, the passages we cite name X-C as the renewal certificate without a separate timing line, so we diarise it against the same expiry date.

Note

NISM decides how long each certificate stays valid. That period is not in the SEBI texts we cite, so we read it off your certificate and do not quote a number. Whether someone who never held Series XV can sit XV-B directly is also NISM's call, and we check it before anyone books.

Associated persons

Persons associated with research services had one year from 23 July 2025 to obtain the relevant NISM certification, a window that closed on 23 July 2026. Their certificates expire like yours do, so they belong on the same renewal register. Purely clerical or administrative staff with no client contact and no link to research sit outside the requirement.

Sources

We handle the documentation and filing: NISM certification tracking

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.

BuildWright Consultants provides documentation, application-drafting, and compliance facilitation for SEBI Investment Adviser and Research Analyst registration. This is not legal advice and does not replace a qualified professional. We are not SEBI and do not guarantee registration outcomes. Eligibility, deposit, fee, and timeline requirements are as prescribed by SEBI from time to time. Every figure we publish names the SEBI document it came from and the date it was read, and we re-confirm it against the current circular during scoping.