Regulatory desk · SEBI document · 24 Sep 2026
SEBI drops prior approval for investment firms' ads, except celebrity ones; each is reported within three working days
The terms this paper uses
What the common advertisement code is. It is one set of rules, approved by SEBI's Board, for how investment firms advertise themselves to the public. It is for stock brokers, — where shares are held as electronic records instead of paper certificates participants, investment advisers, research analysts, online bond platform providers, portfolio managers, and mutual funds and the companies that run them: each of these must follow it whenever it promotes itself or what it sells.
The other words this paper uses
What it replaces. Until now each type of firm followed its own advertising rules, set in SEBI's regulations, in its master circulars, or in circulars from the stock exchanges and other supervisory bodies. The common code replaces all of those separate sets with one.
The firms it names. A stock broker buys and sells shares for clients. A depository participant is the firm through which an investor keeps shares at a depository. An investment adviser is paid to advise investors directly; a research analyst publishes views on shares; a portfolio manager runs investments on a client's behalf; an online bond platform provider sells bonds to investors over the internet; and a mutual fund pools many investors' money into one fund run by a fund house.
What prior approval was. Under the old rules, a firm's advertisement had to be cleared before it went out. The Board's decision says this mandatory step has been done away with for ordinary advertisements.
What reporting after issue means. In place of approval, the firm puts the advertisement out and then reports it within three working days of issuing it. The check now happens after the public has seen the ad, not before.
The celebrity exception. Firms are now allowed to use celebrities to promote their brand or the firm as a whole. Those advertisements are the one kind that still need approval before they run, and they must follow safeguards.
Ratings firms may now quote. Firms may advertise the ratings and rankings assigned by the Past Risk and Return Verification Agency, a body that grades the risk and return figures behind them.
What does not count as an advertisement. The code gives an illustrative list of messages that are routine, factual or a service to existing investors, so that these are kept apart from promotion and do not fall under the advertising rules.
How the rule got here. SEBI first set out the idea in a — a proposal the regulator publishes to invite comment before it decides; it binds nobody yet issued on June 23, 2026, then discussed it with the Industry Standards Forum, the stock exchanges and the Association of Mutual Funds in India before the Board approved it. A separate consultation on the advertising code for online bond platform providers took comments until September 11, 2026.
What the figures below count. Two of them count registered firms: SEBI-registered investment advisers stood at 1,033 at the end of August 2026, against 960 a year earlier, and research analysts at 2,169, against 1,696. The others describe mutual funds: assets under management is the money investors hold in the funds, and a folio is one investor's account with one fund house, so one person can hold several.
In one line
If you run or work at a broker, adviser, research house, portfolio manager, bond platform or fund house, your ads no longer wait for approval: they go out first and are reported within three working days, unless a celebrity is in them.
What the paper sets
What does it require, and where does it say it?
Regulated entities may now use celebrities to promote their brand or entity, provided they get prior approval and follow safeguards.
Where the paper says it · paragraph 4.2.1
“Use of celebrities for brand -level/entity-level promotion has been permitted for regulated entities, subject to prior approval and safeguards.”
Advertisements no longer need mandatory prior approval, except those that carry celebrity endorsements.
Where the paper says it · paragraph 4.2.2
“Obtaining mandatory prior approval (except for advertisements containing celebrity endorsements) has been done away with.”
Instead of prior approval, an advertisement must be reported after it is issued, within three working days.
Where the paper says it · paragraph 4.2.2
“However, post-issuance reporting will be required within three (3) working days.”
The proposal replaces the existing advertisement code for online bond platform providers, now in an annexure of the NCS Master Circular, with a revised code.
Where the paper says it · paragraph 4.1
“To substitute the extant Advertisement Code applicable to Online Bond Platform Providers (OBPPs), prescribed under Annexure XXI-C of Chapter XXI of the NCS Master Circular, with the revised Advertisement Code at Annexure- XXIC of the Draft Circular enclosed with this consultation p aper.”
Regulated entities may advertise ratings and rankings given by the Past Risk and Return Verification Agency.
Where the paper says it · paragraph 4.2.3
“Regulated entities have been permitted to advertise ratings and rankings assigned by Past Risk and Return Verification Agency.”
To separate routine, factual and investor-service messages from promotion, the code gives an illustrative list of communications that are not treated as advertisements.
Where the paper says it · paragraph 4.2.4
“Recognising the need to distinguish routine, factual and investor-service communications from promotional content, the framework provides an illustrative list of communications that will not be considered advertisements.”
The framework described above was discussed with the Industry Standards Forum, stock exchanges and the Association of Mutual Funds in India, and takes in feedback on a consultation paper issued on June 23, 2026.
Where the paper says it · paragraph 4.3
“The aforementioned fram ework was deliberated with the Industry Standards Forum of concerned regulated entities, supervisory bodies such as Stock Exchanges and industry bodies like Association of Mutual Funds in India and has factored in the feedback received on the consultation paper issued on June 23, 2026.”
What our read rests on
How this rule got here
Who it touches
Related rules on the same subject
- Consultation Paper on Common Advertisement Code for Specified SEBI Regulated Entities (23 Jun 2026, another consultation on the same subject): The common code aims to ease promotions by moving from mandatory prior approval to reporting after issuance, reducing compliance costs and bottlenecks.
What we make of it opinion
What do we think this paper does, and why?
SEBI has dropped mandatory prior approval for advertisements by brokers, advisers, research analysts, fund houses and the other firms under the new common code, asking instead that each ad be reported within three working days of going out, while celebrity endorsements still need approval first. SEBI's own consultation paper says checking every item in advance is "neither efficient nor effective" and that the delays can leave time-sensitive ads useless, after industry associations complained about the existing codes. What we don't know is whether a check made after the ad runs will stop a misleading one before investors act on it, or only once it has already been seen for up to three working days.
Why we think so3 reasons
On what grounds?
- The first reason is SEBI's own: its consultation paper says checking every ad in advance is "neither efficient nor effective", and that the wait can leave a time-sensitive ad useless by the time it clears.
- The first reason is about delay; the second is about duplication. The same paper says one ad could need approvals from several authorities at once, and a single code ends that.
- Both come from SEBI's own words; the third is a guess that nothing yet separates from them. Our guess: more firms meant more ads to clear, since registered investment advisers rose to 1,033 at the end of August 2026 from 960 a year earlier. The yearly count of ads sent for approval would settle it.
What would prove us wrong3 trip-wires
What would we have to see to drop that read?
- First, if the final circular turns reporting after issue into a review that can hold ads back, the approval step has only been renamed.
- Second, if registered advisers and research analysts stop growing, the pressure of the approval queue we point to was smaller than we think.
- Third, if industry bodies say the three-working-day report is as heavy as the approval it replaced, the ease SEBI aimed for has not arrived.
What to watch3 things to watch
What happens next, and when would we know?
- The circular that puts the code into force, with its start date and the body each report goes to.
- Whether SEBI or the exchanges act against any ad after it has run, which shows whether the check after issue has teeth.
- The yearly count of ads reported after issue, set beside registered advisers and research analysts, which would show whether more firms really means more ads.
Who this touches
Who could benefit and who is at risk, and on what condition?
Opinion · adds no figures the Facts do not hold · every effect is potential and states its condition
| Who | Potential effect | How it reaches them | How sure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wealth managers & private banks | ▲ potential benefitif prior approval was holding up small advisers' promotions | An adviser can publish an ad straight away and report it within three working days instead of waiting for clearance | Inferred · SEBI's paper names the cost for smaller firms but not its size |
| Asset managers (AMCs) | ▲ potential benefitif fund houses were clearing the same ad with more than one body | One code replaces the separate SEBI and exchange rules, ordinary ads skip the approval step, and brand promotion with a celebrity is now allowed with approval | Inferred · SEBI's paper describes duplicate approvals but does not count them |
| Brokers & investing apps | ▲ potential benefitif exchange circulars had added their own approval step for brokers' ads | The common code replaces exchange-specific advertising codes, so a broker follows one rulebook and reports after issue | Inferred · the decision replaces exchange codes without saying how many applied to brokers |
| Savers & depositors | ▼ potential riskif a misleading ad runs before the report after issue is read | Investors now see an ordinary ad before any regulator's check, so a bad one reaches them first and is caught afterwards | Inferred · how often ads were stopped at the approval stage is not published |
The evidence
From SEBI's paper, Key decisions taken in the SEBI Board Meeting dated 24th September, 2026, 24 Sep 2026. The paper.
Also in the paper — what the rule is today, who is covered, and by when
Every line below is quoted from that same paper. Open it.
| Where | What it says | The paper's words |
|---|---|---|
| paragraph 4.1 | The SEBI Board approved one Common Advertisement Code that applies to stock brokers, depository participants, investment advisers, research analysts, online bond platform providers, portfolio managers and mutual funds/asset management companies. | “As part of Ease of Doing Business initiative, the Board approved a Common Advertisement Code (“CAC”) applicable to regulated entities i.e. Stock Brokers, Depository Participants, Investment Advisers, Research Analysts, Online Bond Platform Providers, Portfolio Managers, and Mutual Funds/Asset Management Companies.” |
| paragraph 4.1 | Today each type of entity follows its own advertisement framework, set in SEBI regulations or master circulars or in circulars from stock exchanges or supervisory bodies; the common code replaces those separate frameworks. | “CAC replaces the existing entity - specific advertisement frameworks individually prescribed under respective SEBI regulations/master circulars and/or through circulars issued by recognised stock exchanges/respective supervisory bodies.” |
| paragraph 6.1 | Comments on the online bond platform advertisement code were due through the online form by the stated date. | “The comments/ suggestions should be submitted through the following mode latest by September 11, 2026, through the online web -based form at the following link: https://www.sebi.gov.in/sebiweb/publiccommentv2/PublicCommentAction.do?” |
| paragraph 5(a) | The common code aims to ease promotions by moving from mandatory prior approval to reporting after issuance, reducing compliance costs and bottlenecks. | “Facilitating regulated entities to carry out their promotions in more effective and efficient manner, e.g. shi ft from mandatory prior approval to a post -issuance reporting mechanism, reducing compliance costs and bottlenecks.” |
| paragraph 5(b) | The proposal replaces all entity-specific and exchange-specific advertisement codes with one comprehensive code. | “Replacing all existing entity -specific and exchange -specific advertisement codes with a single, comprehensive code applicabl e to specified regulated entities with certain carve outs based on the unique nature of an entity or its product.” |
| Figure | Reading | Date | A year earlier | Where from |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SEBI-registered investment advisers | 1,033 | 31 Aug 2026 | +73, +7.6%, against 960 at 31 Aug 2025 | sebi.gov.in |
| SEBI-registered research analysts | 2,169 | 31 Aug 2026 | +473, +27.9%, against 1,696 at 31 Aug 2025 | sebi.gov.in |
What else we hold on this
We hold 5 other SEBI documents on this subject, published between 9 Feb 2026 and 3 Aug 2026 — and none of them has become a card. They are the store's, not the paper's: nothing below is cited by the document above.
- Extension of timeline for enrolment with PaRRVA as specified in SEBI Circular No.…3 Aug 2026 · no card written
- ‘Green-Channel: AIF Rollout Upon Document Acknowledgement’ (GARUDA) Mechanism for…30 Jul 2026 · no card written
- Consultation paper on rationalizing the requirement of obtaining investor consent…30 Jun 2026 · no card written
- Consultation on ‘Green-Channel: AIF Rollout Upon Document Acknowledgement’ (GARUDA)…11 May 2026 · no card written
- Review of minimum value of investment by individual investors in Social Impact Fund…9 Feb 2026 · no card written
Go deeper
Whether we have said this before
1 of them became a card.
Audit trail: how this card was checked, and the store's own notes
Status: Clear. the rule is issued and every fact is quoted from SEBI's own text
Exact figures: 12 quoted facts from Key decisions taken in the SEBI Board Meeting dated 24th September, 2026; the warning on every one: none.
Words used on this page, in plain English
- depository
- where shares are held as electronic records instead of paper certificates
- consultation paper
- a proposal the regulator publishes to invite comment before it decides; it binds nobody yet