Under Regulation 20(3) of SEBI (Research Analysts) Regulations, 2014, if a research report contains a rating or price target for a subject company that the analyst has covered for at least one year, what visual chart must be included?

[ A ]A pie chart showing the global distribution of gold jewelry buyers across five continents.

[ B ]A bar chart depicting the daily weather temperatures in Mumbai over the preceding decade.

[ C ]A photograph of the company's corporate headquarters building taken from a commercial aircraft.

[ D ]A graph of the daily closing price of the security for the entire period covered or for a three-year period, whichever is shorter.[ CORRECT ]

Takeaway

Option D is correct: A graph of the daily closing price of the security for the entire period covered or for a three-year period, whichever is shorter.

Derivation

Under Regulation 20(3) of the SEBI (Research Analysts) Regulations, 2014: If a research report contains either a stock rating or a price target for a subject company's securities, and the research analyst or entity has assigned a rating or price target to those securities for at least one year, the report must include a graphical chart of the daily closing prices of such securities for the entire period assigned or for a three-year period, whichever is shorter. This visual track record ensures accountability in past target performance. This tests specific statutory content rules under Regulation 20. The common error is confusing 3 years with 5 or 10 years.

Why the others fail

A — A pie chart showing the global distribution of gold jewelry buyers across five continents.

Global jewelry pie charts do not fulfill SEBI's explicit requirement for historical security closing price trend disclosures.

B — A bar chart depicting the daily weather temperatures in Mumbai over the preceding decade.

Weather charts have no legal or analytical standing under SEBI research report disclosure regulations.

C — A photograph of the company's corporate headquarters building taken from a commercial aircraft.

Aerial photographs of office buildings do not satisfy statutory historical security price chart mandates.