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.
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) […]
AIF registration comes down to a choice of regulator: SEBI (onshore) or IFSCA (GIFT City). Where investors are mostly Indian residents putting in rupees for Indian deals, the SEBI route generally involves fewer cross-border steps. Where they are mostly foreign investors or NRIs, or the portfolio is global, an IFSCA-regulated fund in GIFT City is […]
To set up a GIFT City AIF, you first register a Fund Management Entity (FME) with the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA). You then file the fund’s placement memorandum (PPM) with IFSCA. IFSCA calls a private fund of this kind a “restricted scheme” and files it as a Category I, II or III AIF; […]
Short answer: Section 27 of the Indian Contract Act 1872 makes any agreement that restrains a party from carrying on a lawful trade or business void to that extent, and it applies to agreements between businesses as well as to employment contracts, with no general test of reasonableness [1][2][3]. Indian courts have upheld negative covenants […]
Short answer: Under India’s Patents Act 1970 the right to patent an invention starts with its inventors, and a company may apply for a patent only as their assignee, so each party to a joint development agreement needs written assignments from the employees and contractors who do the work [1][2]. If the parties end up […]
Short answer: Since 15 July 2026, UK businesses can use the India–UK trade deal, formally the UK–India Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), and the separate Double Contributions Convention (DCC) for three things: lower Indian tariffs on goods that meet the rules of origin, up to 60 months in UK National Insurance for staff sent […]
Short answer: The EU–India trade deal (formally the EU–India free trade agreement) was concluded on 27 January 2026 and sent to the Council for signature and conclusion in September 2026, but as at 12 October 2026 it is neither signed nor in force; signature is reported for December 2026 and entry into force for early […]
Short answer: As at 12 October 2026 there is no signed India–US trade deal: on 6 February 2026 the two governments announced only a framework for an Interim Agreement, and apart from the US removing its extra 25% “Russian oil” tariff from 7 February, neither side has implemented its tariff commitments [1][5]. The 18% US […]
Short answer: India has no trade secrets statute, so confidential business information and know-how are protected through contract, the court-made duty of confidence and, at the margins, criminal and information technology law [1][2]. Indian courts protect genuinely confidential information, including after a relationship ends, but section 27 of the Indian Contract Act voids restraints of […]