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FUNDS
Foreign Institutional Investors ("FIIs")
were permitted to make portfolio investments in Indian companies for the
first time in 1993 and we acted as the Indian counsel to the first fund
set up to make investments in Indian securities. Since then, our practice
has evolved to meet the changing needs of the fund industry. Our expertise
spreads across various kinds of funds including sector specific funds
like technology funds, infrastructure funds, multi-currency funds, debt
funds, index-based funds, regional funds, funds looking at investing in
varied stages of a company from seed-stage to late-stage, angel funds,
to name a few. Our commitment to research and understanding of the global
trends enables us to constantly bring new concepts such as UCITs, REITs,
hedge funds, to the Indian fund industry and create structures anticipating
future needs of our clients.
Our practice that caters to the fund industry
focuses on:
- Advising our clients on
structuring the fund, this includes advise on business strategic issues
such as determination of the hurdle rate, combining dollar-denominated
and rupee- denominated hurdle rates in unified structures, structuring
the carried interest, drafting the claw-back clause, sharing the carried
interest with employees et al
- Ensuring tax efficiency for our clients,
this involves giving advise on selection of an appropriate tax favourable
jurisdiction, taking into consideration the legal and tax regimes
in such jurisdictions, like Mauritius, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Ireland,
to name a few. We also coordinate with the overseas counsel
- Advising our clients on an appropriate
entity or vehicle for the fund such as pass-through trusts, limited
liability partnerships, limited liability companies, protected cell
companies. We take into consideration the objective of the fund and
the impact of such entity or vehicle in the hands of the investors
in their home jurisdiction
- Representing our clients before the
Indian Authority for Advance Rulings for obtaining a ruling on various
issues, including whether or not the investment adviser in India could
be regarded as a permanent establishment of the fund
- Drafting of the fund documents for
our clients, including the charter documents for the fund entity,
the private placement memorandum, the investment management agreement,
the investment advisory agreement, and other such documents.
- Advising our clients the local registration
requirements with the Securities Exchange Board of India, or other
regulatory authorities if so required
Practice Statements:
Research Paper:
Other allied material:
- Nishith Desai was invited to be part
of the Sebi constituted committee to recommend amendments to the Sebi
(Venture Capital) regulations, 1996 for regulating domestic venture
capital funds. Please visit Sebi's site:
www.sebi.gov.in for further details.
Contact details: For further information
and / or suggestions, please contact Siddharth Shah
Email: siddharth@nishithdesai.com
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