Legal analysis and practical guidance on cross-border business, disputes, corporate, employment and IP matters across India and the UAE — including the Legal Help Desk, our Q&A column on the problems clients actually meet.
Reverse flipping means moving a startup’s holding company from abroad (often Delaware or Singapore) back to India, so that the Indian company becomes the top company. The main statutory route is an inbound cross-border merger of the foreign holdco into its Indian subsidiary. Since 17 September 2024, where the Indian company is wholly owned, that […]
An IFSC Banking Unit (IBU) is a branch of an Indian or foreign bank, licensed by IFSCA to carry on banking in GIFT IFSC, mainly in 15 specified foreign currencies. The parent bank must provide at least USD 20 million of capital, held at parent level, and obtain a no-objection letter from its home regulator. […]
A corporate treasury centre in GIFT City is a finance company, or a branch called a Finance Unit, registered with IFSCA to carry on the activity of a “Global/Regional Corporate Treasury Centre” (GRCTC). The rules are in IFSCA’s GRCTC Framework of 4 April 2025: a company or branch, a minimum owned fund of USD 0.2 […]
GIFT City has two parts: a multi-service special economic zone (SEZ), in which GIFT IFSC sits, and a domestic tariff area (DTA) for businesses serving the Indian market (GIFT City Funds Booklet; Invest India). IFSCA licensing applies to units in the IFSC, not to businesses in the DTA. A GIFT City company in the IFSC […]
A variable capital company (VCC) is a corporate fund vehicle whose share capital rises and falls as investors subscribe and redeem, usually with ring-fenced sub-funds or cells. GIFT City does not have one yet: the VCC exists only in a consultation draft of the International Financial Services Centres Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2026. Singapore has had […]
A Family Investment Fund (FIF) is the GIFT IFSC vehicle for a single family’s own capital. It is registered with IFSCA in the Authorised FME category and may take money only from the family and family-controlled entities. It should have and maintain a minimum investment of USD 10 million within three years of registration, and […]
For a manager raising a GIFT IFSC fund, GIFT City investment is open to foreign investors, NRIs and OCIs, resident Indian individuals and Indian companies. Each comes in through a different legal route with its own limit. IFSCA’s FM Regulations set the ticket sizes and investor counts for every investor. SEBI’s FPI rules cap NRIs, […]
GIFT City third party fund management lets a manager launch a fund without registering its own Fund Management Entity (FME). A Registered FME authorised for “third-party fund management services” sets up and manages the fund as a restricted scheme, which is filed as a Category I, II or III AIF (Reg. 30(1), FM Regulations 2025). […]
GIFT City tax benefits for funds and fund managers are in the Income-tax Act 2025. This article is specific to funds and fund managers; for the wider IFSC tax regime, see the GIFT City tax overview. A fund manager set up as a unit in GIFT IFSC can deduct 100% of its income from approved […]
In GIFT City, Category I, II and III AIFs are, for restricted schemes, three filing labels for one product, which a Registered FME files with IFSCA. A Category III AIF is one following “diverse or complex trading strategies”; desirable sectors go in Category I and everything else in Category II (Reg. 30(1), IFSCA (Fund Management) […]