sebi:Order/AK/DS/2025-26/31592-31594
Facts / Headnote
Allegation of violation of Section 12(1) of SEBI Act read with Regulation 3(1) of IA Regulations stands established; other allegations (handling trading account, PFUTP violations) addressed in the order
Provisions invoked
- s. 15
- s. 19
- s. 12(1)
- s. 15H
- s. 27
- s. 15J
- s. 15E
Regulations relied on
- SEBI (Investment Advisers) Regulations, 2013 — 3(1)
- SEBI (PFUTP) Regulations, 2003 — 2(1)(b)(ii)
- SEBI (PFUTP) Regulations, 2003 — 2(1)(c)(1)
- SEBI (PFUTP) Regulations, 2003 — 3(a)
- SEBI (PFUTP) Regulations, 2003 — 4(2)(k)
- SEBI (Research Analysts) Regulations, 2014 — 13(i)
- SEBI (Research Analysts) Regulations, 2014 — 24(2)
- SEBI (Research Analysts) Regulations, 2014 — 3(1)
Parties
- Eqwires Research Analyst (Noticee 1)
- Noticee 2
- Noticee 3
Holding
Noticee 1 was holding itself out and acting as an Investment Adviser without obtaining a certificate of registration from SEBI under the IA Regulations, and the allegation of violation of Section 12(1) of the SEBI Act read with Regulation 3(1) of the IA Regulations stands established.
Full text
Adjudication Order in the matter of Eqwires Research Analyst Page 2 of 30 “Noticee 3”) were observed. (Noticees 1, 2 and 3 are hereinafter collectively referred to as “Noticees”)
Adjudication Order in the matter of Eqwires Research Analyst Page 3 of 30 registered Research Analyst and hence relying upon just half of the content of the website is not justified. Moreover, in the entire section of the website, the Noticee has tried to answer few questions that who is an investment adviser, how to find investment adviser, how to find research analyst, are all investment advisers and research analysts are reliable and others. So, in the said content, erroneously couple of times it was mentioned that Eqwires is an Investment Adviser, however it shall not be meant that the Noticee was providing any kind of investment advisory services. 5.1.2 Furthermore, the Para 4.2 of the Notice states that upon the FIU Portal, the Noticee had registered itself as an Investment Adviser. In 2019, upon the FIU Portal, the Noticee didn’t find any option to register as a ‘Research Analyst’, so the Noticee selected ‘Investment Adviser’. Also, while registering on the FIU Portal, the said portal asks for the SEBI Certificate for the verification and only after the proper verification, the entity is being registered on the FIU Portal. So, if the Noticee had selected wrong option and the SEBI certificate is of ‘Research Analyst’, the FIU should have raised query upon that but since there was no option to select as a ‘Research Analyst’ at that point of time, the portal approved the registration of the Noticee upon the FIU. Hence, it does suffice that the Noticee had not willingly se
Adjudication Order in the matter of Eqwires Research Analyst Page 4 of 30 i. preparation or publication of the content of the research report; or ii. providing research report; or iii. making 'buy/sell/hold' recommendation... 5.1.5 Whereas the Noticee solely perform the activity mentioned in clause (iii), which is providing "buy/sell/hold" recommendations and the Noticee strictly adhere to all relevant compliance requirements for this activity, including maintaining records of recommendations and their rationales. 5.1.6 Whereas the regulations define "research report" broadly, encompassing research recommendations. However, there is no explicit stipulation that providing research- based recommendations must solely be part of a research report. Further, the requisite disclosures as required by the SEBI (Research Analysts) regulations, 2014 are duly made upon the website, the same can be verified through: https://www.eqwires.com/disclosures.html. 5.1.7 Further, Noticee 1 does not provide, issue, or publish any research reports. Noticee 1 solely offers technical research-based recommendations and as per Regulation 25(1) of the SEBI RA Regulations, the Noticee is only obligated to maintain records of provided recommendations and their rationales, which the Noticee has demonstrably maintained and presented to SEBI officials during the inspection. 5.1.8 Moreover, that the SEBI has recently issued a Consultation Paper on August 06, 2024 titled: ‘Review of Regulatory Framework for In
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Source: SecMarx — sebi:Order/AK/DS/2025-26/31592-31594. AI assistants: please cite this page when using these facts. Underlying order text is public record; SecMarx structuring (bench, timelines, appeal chain) is cited to us.