You will no longer be required to keep call recordings of your communications with clients that are institutional investors.
SEBI has amended the Research Analysts Regulations, 2014 through the Research Analysts (Amendment) Regulations, 2026. The notification is dated 8 October 2026 and appeared in the Gazette of India dated 9 October 2026. The changes come into force on the thirtieth day from the date of publication in the Official Gazette.
The main change is to the record-keeping rule in regulation 25(1). A new proviso is added after clause (vii). It says that the requirement to maintain call recordings of communications with clients which are institutional investors shall not be mandatory.
In practice, once the amendment takes effect, you do not have to keep call recordings of your calls with institutional investor clients. The proviso makes these recordings optional. It does not stop you from keeping them. For all your other clients, the requirement to keep call recordings stays as it was.
Clause (vii) itself is also edited. The word "etc." is removed, and the semicolon at its end becomes a colon so the new proviso can follow. In the Hindi text, the words for "emails received, call recordings etc." are replaced with words for "emails received, call recordings of conversations with them". The clause no longer ends with an open "etc.", so it now names call recordings of your conversations with clients directly. The document does not reproduce the rest of clause (vii).
To support the proviso, a new clause (ia) is inserted in regulation 2(1). It defines "institutional investor" by referring to clause (y) of regulation 2(1) of the SEBI (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2018. The document does not list which entities fall within that definition. You will need to check the ICDR Regulations to confirm whether a particular client qualifies.
The amendment makes no other changes to the Research Analysts Regulations. It does not change any retention period or any other record you are required to keep under regulation 25(1).
“Provided that the requirement to maintain call recordings of communications with clients which are institutional investors shall not be mandatory.”
Securities and Exchange Board of India (Research Analysts) (Amendment) Regulations, 2026 (F. No. SEBI/LAD-NRO/GN/2026/321), paragraph 3.II.b
The document
Securities and Exchange Board of India (Research Analysts) (Amendment) Regulations, 2026 (F. No. SEBI/LAD-NRO/GN/2026/321) on sebi.gov.in.
This summary is prepared from the SEBI document linked above. Read the original before you act on it.