Regulatory Roundup: Unregistered Investment Advice

I’ve spent a lot of time in India early in my career and always found it a fascinating place with an incredibly dynamic financial ecosystem. Recently I went to Mumbai to speak at a market integrity conference, and then met with SEBI, the domestic exchanges and compliance teams from the major banks and brokers. I always ask for interesting cases, and—by a wide margin—most are related to finfluencers. It’s a growing problem globally, not just in India, but it’s instructive to see how quickly the problem has crept up and the steps SEBI has taken in recent years.

Finfluencers don’t just suddenly emerge. It’s India’s rapid expansion in retail trading that’s driven the rise of financial influencers offering trading ideas, courses and market guidance through digital channels. Data from the depositories shows the number of investor accounts (demats) has soared from roughly 40 million in 2020 to over 200 million in 2025. This growth has been driven by easier onboarding, lower trading costs and widespread access to market content through mobile platforms.