Areas of Service

Financial Services & Regulatory

1. Our Financial Services & Regulatory Practice

The regulations pertaining to financial services sector continue to expand worldwide. The regulators in India have also sought to keep pace with developments in international trade and commerce. In order to facilitate ease of doing business in India, the Indian regulators have tended to engage in public consultations and encourage stakeholder participation in the formation of the applicable laws.

Faced with a wider regulatory framework, our team steps in to help clients plan and navigate through various complex regulatory developments on a real time basis. We advise leading financial institutions and have invested in building a team that can cover a very wide scope of regulations. With the help of our international experience and focus on industry practice, we are able to effectively represent clients and proactively engage with the regulators.

Nishith Desai Associates’ (NDA) Financial Services and Regulatory practice is built on the premise of helping clients solve complex problems, manage crisis and facilitate doing business in and outside India. Multiple regulatory agencies and constantly evolving laws and regulations necessitate a dynamic compliance program and active engagement with the regulatory authorities to seek their necessary guidance.

Having represented several major banks, non-banking financial institutions, private equity funds, venture capitals, hedge funds and global corporations in their ventures into India, we draw additional strength from our specialist practice groups within the firm possessing pinpoint industry expertise. We approach transactions with an interdisciplinary team of attorneys handling the various regulatory, tax, corporate, securities, and other inherent issues. Using our international experience, we have also assisted some regulators by giving them advice and guidance on the drafting of various rules and regulations.

The Financial Services and Regulatory practice group is equipped to advise clients on regulatory and compliances matters, including, core fund based, and non-fund based legal and tax advisory activities, structuring of investments and other ancillary matters.

We provide structuring related advice to our clients, both from the perspective of setting up new operations or investing in existing businesses in India as well as capital management of the company. Further, we provide them regulatory and strategic advice, compliance support as well as assist them in obtaining relevant licenses, by making representations and applications before regulators and government authorities.

NDA strives to provide its clients with creative and pragmatic solutions and effective strategies. Our focus on different industries has given us an in-depth knowledge of the various issues that may arise while doing business in India. We seek to add value to our clients and projects at all stages - leading from planning to the initiation and culminating in the execution of the deal. 

2. Practice Area Accolades:

Legal500 APAC 2024:

Ranked firm for Fintech and Financial Services Regulatory practice.

“Alongside obtaining regulatory licenses from the RBI and SEBI, Nishith Desai Associates assists with transactions, compliance and crypto-related disputes that help to shape India’s regulatory landscape.  Payment aggregators, banking partners and cross-border service facilitators are among the firm’s clients.”

“Nishith Desai Associates’ fintech and financial services regulatory practice stands out in the legal industry due to its unique approach and remarkable strengths.”

“The individuals at Nishith Desai Associates truly stand out in the legal industry, and their distinct qualities set them apart from competitors. Over the years, I have had the privilege of working closely with several standout partners and associates, each of whom has brought unique strengths and qualities to the table.”

ALB Pan Asian Regulatory Summit Awards 2023:

Shortlisted as a top Regulatory Firm (Across Asia) of the Year 2023 by Asian Legal Business and Thomson Reuters.

Asialaw Asia Pacific Rankings 2023:

Outstanding firm for Regulatory practice.

AsiaLaw Regional Awards 2023:

Recognised as the top Regulatory Firm of the Year 2023 by AsiaLaw for the APAC region.

Benchmark Litigation Asia Pacific Rankings 2023:

Tier 1 for Government and regulatory practice.

3. Services Offered

Our Financial Services and Regulatory practice offers clients legal and regulatory advice and helps them achieve their big vision and strategic objectives in India’s complex regulatory environment. We support our clients in complex and high value transactions and rescue them from crisis.

We provide structuring related advice to our clients both from the perspective of setting up new operations or investing in existing businesses in and outside India as well as capital management of the company. Further, we provide them regulatory and strategic advice, compliance support and assistance in making representations and applications before regulators and government authorities.

Listed below is an overview of the services provided by the Financial Services and Regulatory practice group.

A.   Legal, regulatory and/or structuring advisory pertaining to:

• Offshore hedge funds’ investments in India under the Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI) route.
• Offshore entities and funds’ investments in India under the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and/ or Foreign Venture Capital Investment (FVCI) routes.
• Establishment of stock broking business in India.
• Overseas investments into foreign entities / funds, etc. by persons resident in India.
• Offshore securities marketing and offering to persons resident in India.
• Laws related to the financial services - Banking, Stock Exchanges, Clearing Corporations, Insurance Companies, etc.).
• Laws related to other financial services - Asset Management, Investment Advisory, Research Analysts, Portfolio Management, etc.).

B.   Drafting / Negotiating / Review:

• Drafting and review of offer documents from Indian legal and regulatory perspective.
• Drafting and review of agreements (such as custody agreement, broker dealer agreement, clearing and settlement agreement, escrow agreement, investment advisory agreement, ISDA-related ODI subscription agreements, as the case may be).
• Drafting and review of legal representation(s), including filing of statutory applications and doing filings with the Indian regulatory authorities.
• Drafting and review of various disclosure filings, such as prescribed under the Indian takeover laws.
• Issuance of Legal Opinions and Advisory Memorandums on various regulatory topics / issues / laws.

C.     Regulatory approvals / licenses:

• FPI / FVCI / Investment Adviser / Research Analyst, etc. registrations with SEBI.
• RBI applications and approvals, including NBFC registration, banking company’s share acquisition approval, etc.
• Government approvals for FDI into Indian entities, Press Note 3 of 2020, approvals, etc.

D.   Regulatory litigations:

• RBI and SEBI representations.
• Compounding application with RBI under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999.
• Replying to the show cause notices issued by SEBI with respect to any security laws matter.
• Filing of settlement or consent applications with SEBI.
• Project management for a representation or settlement.

4. Illustrative Experience

We have extensive experience of working with industry bodies and making recommendations to various authorities in India, including:

A.   Industry Bodies

• Asia Securities Industry & Financial Markets Association (ASIFMA)
• Indian Private Equity & Venture Capital Association (IVCA)
• US-India Business Council (USIBC)
• UK-India Business Council (UKIBC)
• Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)
• The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE)
• Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI)

B.   Governmental Authorities

• Various Ministries and Administrative Departments of the Government of India (including Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance and Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce, etc.).
• Various Financial Services Regulators such as RBI, SEBI, Competition Commission of India (CCI), Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) and Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA).
• Various State Governments and Local Municipal bodies.

We have been actively involved in shaping the policies of India by providing research-based recommendations alongside being an active member of several committees including:

• The Expert Committee on Onshoring Innovations to GIFT IFSC,
• The Employee Stock Option Plan (ESOP) Committee.
• The Foreign Venture Capital Investor (FVCI) Guidelines Committee.
• The IVCA Committee.
• K.B. Chandrashekhar Committee on Venture Capital.
• SEBI Institutional Trading Platform Committee.

Additionally, among the foreign governments, we have provided assistance to the Mauritius Government in development of a comprehensive roadmap to promote innovation growth and technology. We have also played an advisory role to some Indian Embassies overseas, on the methods of foreign investment into India by the companies based in the respective countries.