SEBI Approves Common Advertisement Code Allowing Celebrity Brand Campaigns and Easing Approval Norms — September 25, 2026

In a major regulatory overhaul designed to streamline financial marketing, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has approved a comprehensive Common Advertisement Code (CAC). The unified code applies across seven categories of SEBI-regulated entities, introducing landmark relaxations including corporate brand endorsements by celebrities and replacing time-consuming prior advertisement approvals with post-issuance reporting.

The new framework covers stockbrokers, depository participants, investment advisers (IAs), research analysts (RAs), online bond platform providers (OBPPs), portfolio managers, and mutual funds/asset management companies (AMCs).

Celebrity Endorsements: Brand Promotion vs Product Hawking

A key reform under the Common Advertisement Code is the opening up of celebrity-led campaigns for capital market intermediaries. Previously, celebrity promotions were heavily restricted, with mutual funds only permitted to deploy celebrities at an industry-wide awareness level (such as AMFI campaigns) rather than for individual fund houses.

Under the approved framework:

• Regulated entities, including individual AMCs, discount brokers, and portfolio managers, may engage celebrities for corporate brand-building and entity-level promotional campaigns.
• Celebrity endorsements of specific financial products, schemes, trading strategies, or individual investment offerings remain strictly prohibited to avoid creating misleading impressions of assured returns or false suitability.
• Celebrity-featuring campaigns will remain subject to prior regulatory clearance and must carry clear, prominent risk disclaimers.

Transition from Prior Approvals to 24-Hour Reporting

Addressing long-standing industry demands around marketing agility in the digital age, SEBI has moved away from mandating upfront approvals for routine commercial messaging.

Under the old rules, entities such as stockbrokers, research analysts, and online bond platform providers faced prolonged turnaround times while awaiting formal clearance before airing campaigns. The new code replaces this with a post-issuance reporting mechanism, requiring entities to report advertisements to the relevant stock exchanges or supervisory bodies within 24 hours of release.

Regulators and exchange surveillance teams will conduct post-facto monitoring, retaining the authority to mandate prompt withdrawals, modifications, or penalties if advertisements breach market standards.

Protection Against Deceptive Practices and Digital Formats

Alongside operational ease, the unified code tightens rules against misleading commercial practices. The regulations explicitly prohibit:

• Dark patterns designed to manipulate retail users into impulsive trading or subscribing to services.
• Exaggerated performance metrics, promises of fixed returns, and unsubstantiated claims.
• Unverified performance claims, requiring that any past performance ratings or rankings must be certified by an approved verification agency.

To accommodate modern digital channels such as push notifications, pop-ups, and short messaging formats, SEBI will allow abbreviated risk disclaimers paired with hyperlinked pathways leading directly to comprehensive disclosure documents.

For India's retail investors, the unified framework balances transparency with easier brand discoverability, ensuring that marketing campaigns focus on corporate trust rather than aggressive product-level inducement.

Tags: SEBI Stockbrokers Asset Management Companies Indian Capital Markets Advertising Standards