Kamlesh Varshney, WTM Sebi, launched the Revamped ARIA Portal at an Association of Registered Investment Advisers (ARIA) virtual summit. The website went live at the launch event and can be accessed at aria.org.in. The organisation said the website has enhanced functionality to improve the user experience, user-friendly navigation, and some added features.
It has been made mobile-friendly, and search features have been improved to help users easily locate a financial advisor. The platform's discussion forum has also been streamlined. A secure payment system has also been added to eliminate third-party payment systems.
Kamlesh Varshney said, "We have entered into a partnership with a social media platform, where we can flag content or advertisements from influencers which is not in accordance with the law. And those social media platforms have also been very cooperative with us and they take them down within 72 hours. So that has been very fruitful. Every month we have been able to take action against a large number of such unregistered influencers."
Kamlesh Varshney said, that Sebi's main goal is to remove unregistered influencers who misguide investors from giving advice. "We have simplified the registration process for investment advisors and research analysts, given clarifications to ensure compliance, and removed entry barriers. We have also simplified fee and client structures."
The separate administrative body BSE Administration & Supervision Ltd. (BASL) has been formed as an arm of BSE to handle day-to-day administration, registration, and supervision. This delegation to BASL aims to regulate investment advisors and research analysts, and to increase the number of registered professionals while reducing unregistered influencers on social media platforms, he said. "So ultimately, whether we are successful or not will be tested when we are able to increase the number of registered investment advisors and research analysts," Varshney said in a conversation with Vivek Rege, an RIA.
While handling a large number of IAs and RAs in the regulatory hold, we need to ensure swift action in clear-cut violation cases, without following lengthy legal procedures. Some proceedings help us to give direction instead of cancellation or suspension so that we can regulate them in an efficient manner, he said.
Sebi intermediaries can associate themselves with influencers on specified social media platforms because we expect those social media platforms to act proactively, and taken down unregistered influencers violating Sebi rules, Varshney clarified.
