SEBI amends qualification norms for portfolio managers, investment advisors, research analysts

Markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has notified new regulations for portfolio managers, investment advisors, and research analysts with regard to their qualifications.

The move will help recognise "the postgraduate programme in securities market of not less than one year offered by NISM (National Institutes of Securities Markets)" as eligible qualification for portfolio managers, investment advisors, and research analysts, said SEBI.

In three separate notifications issued on Tuesday, SEBI amended the regulations for portfolio managers, investment advisors, and research analysts.

The regulator also amended Portfolio Management Services regulations with respect to NISM certification requirements.

The move comes after the SEBI board approved amendments in this regard in February.

SEBI said a portfolio manager needs to have a professional qualification in finance, law, accountancy, or business management from a recognised university or institution, or attain the qualification by completing a postgraduate programme in securities market (portfolio management) from NISM.

The postgraduate programme from NISM should not be less than a year's duration.

In another development, SEBI on Tuesday put in place a uniform policy to streamline the reconciliation process among intermediaries with regard to initial public offers (IPO), as well as a new mechanism to compensate investors.

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The new framework will address issues related to delay in receipt of mandate by investors for blocking of funds due to systemic issues at intermediaries and failure to unblock funds in cases of partial allotment by the next working day from the finalisation of Basis of Allotment, SEBI said in a circular.

Among other issues that would be addressed are Self-Certified Syndicate Bank (SCSB) blocking multiple amounts for the same Unified Payment Interface (UPI) application and SCSB blocking more amount in the investor's account than the application amount.

To ensure timely response with regard to the IPO process, SCSBs would identify the nodal officer for IPO applications processed through UPI as a payment mechanism and submit the details to the markets regulator within seven working days.

For ease of reference, the details of nodal officers of SCSBs will be hosted on the SEBI website. To ensure timely information to investors, SCSBs would send SMS alerts for mandate block and unblock.