How do I surrender my registration, and what survives it?

You apply to surrender, and RAASB scrutinises the application before SEBI decides.

Neither the RA Regulations nor the Master Circular sets out a surrender procedure. The only primary text is in the SEBI (Intermediaries) Regulations, 2008, and the RA Regulations do not expressly point to it for surrender. Treat what follows as that position rather than as a stated RA rule.

Before accepting, SEBI may require you to satisfy it on how records will be preserved, how investor grievances will be redressed, how client records are transferred, and how clients keep being served. It can attach conditions.

After cancellation you must return the certificate, stop holding yourself out as registered, and let clients move away without additional cost to them.

One rule here is specific to Research Analysts. If your registration is suspended for more than sixty days or cancelled, you must refund fees pro rata from the date it takes effect to the end of the subscription period.

Your five-year record retention is unaffected. SEBI has not said what happens to complaints still pending when a surrender is accepted.