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Finance Companies / Units in International Financial Services Centre (IFSC)

– Anirudh Grover, Executive | finserv@vinodkothari.com

Table of Contents

BackgroundIFSCA Framework for Finance Companies / Units Implications under FEMA
What are Finance Companies and Finance Units?Registration RequirementsAsset Side Transactions
What does a finance company/unit do?Owned Funds requirementCapital and Liabilities Side Transactions
Can they accept deposits?Corporate Governance AspectsDifference between Finance Company / Unit & NBFCs
Liquidity Risk Management (LRM) FrameworkConclusion

Background

International Finance Service Centre (IFSC) is a designated zone physically situated in India but is not considered a part of India. As the name suggests, it is a designated centre set up for the purpose of enabling international financial services, the key word here being international. The purpose is not only to bring global funds into the country but also facilitate such transactions through this zone which otherwise would have been carried out by foreign branches of domestic entities. This purpose is intended to be achieved through establishment of various businesses such as banking units, fund management entities, finance companies etc. We have discussed in depth about the concept of IFSCs along with the applicability of the domestic regulatory framework in our write-up Financial entities in IFSC: A primer.

The objective of this paper is to picture a comprehensive image of all the aspects of finance entities starting from what is meant by finance companies to all the regulatory exposure it has to bear while undertaking any kind of activities.

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Financial entities in IFSC: A primer

– Parth Ved, Executive | parth@vinodkothari.com

Table of contents

BackgroundApplicability of Domestic Regulatory framework Regulatory framework in IFSC
What is IFSC?Companies Act, 2013IFSCA (Finance Company) Regulations, 2021
Purpose of setting up an IFSC Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999Specific Frameworks for Aircraft Leasing and Ship Leasing
Who regulates IFSC?Income tax act, 1961IFSCA (Fund Management) Regulations, 2022
Is IFSC and GIFT City the same? Goods and Services TaxIFSCA (Banking) Regulations, 2020
Permission for setting up an entity in IFSCStamp dutyClosing remarks
Securities lawRelevant Links
Banking law

Background

Flow of funds, just like a river, not only enriches its destination but also benefits all the stops it passes through. Having a financial hub, a stopover which enables routing billions and billions of global funds on a daily basis can definitely prove resourceful. London, New York, Singapore are some of the globally recognised financial centres, and needless to say these locations are at the forefront of financial development. India too has tried to tap into this with the setting up of GIFT-IFSC in Gujarat, and has tried to position itself as the next big global hub for financial transactions.

Through this write-up, the author tries to explain the concept of International Financial Services Centre and the applicability of domestic regulatory framework on entities set up therein.

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