SEBI Expands Auditor Eligibility: Cost Accountants Now Eligible to Conduct Annual Audit of Research Analysts

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has issued a circular dated March 25, 2026, addressed to all registered Research Analysts (RAs) and the Research Analyst Administration and Supervisory Body (RAASB), clarifying the eligibility of the Institute of Cost Accountants of India (ICMAI) members to conduct the annual audit of Research Analysts.

This circular is in continuation of an earlier SEBI Master Circular dated February 06, 2026, which outlined compliance and reporting requirements for RAs. The present circular has made some significant modifications to that master circular. Earlier, only the members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) and the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) were permitted to conduct annual audits of Research Analysts (RAs), in accordance with paragraph 31 of Chapter VI of the Master Circular. As per the present modification, the members of the Institute of Cost Accountants of India (ICMAI) have also been included in this list.

As per the revised instructions, every Research Analyst must conduct an annual compliance audit under Regulation 25(3) of the SEBI (Research Analysts) Regulations, 2014, within the time limit of six months from the end of each financial year and submit the compliance audit report of the same to RAASB/SEBI within one month from the date of the audit report but before October 31 of each year for the previous financial year.

Moreover, if there are any adverse findings of an audit, then Research Analysts must report the same along with the actions taken on their website. They must also share their audit report with their clients. In line with the circular, the aforementioned directions have already come into effect with the date of issuance of the circular, i.e., from March 25, 2026. The circular can be easily accessed at the official website of SEBI, at www.sebi.gov.in under the ‘Legal → Circulars’ category.