RBI's breather on AIF investments: Welcoming, yet not without hurdles

Friday, April 19, 2024 (04:00 PM to 05:00 PM (IST))

INTRODUCTION:

On December 19, 2023, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had issued a circular prohibiting Regulated Entities (REs) from making investments in AIFs which have downstream investments in a debtor company. It also mandated REs to either liquidate their existing holdings in such AIFs failing which make 100% provisioning against such investments.

This prompted numerous industry representations to the RBI, highlighting practical concerns around the implementation of the circular. REs were compelled to consider prematurely selling their interests in AIFs and their investee AIFs were left with a potentially shrinking corpus.

In order to address such industry concerns, RBI has now issued another circular in an attempt to provide clarity on the provisions of the December 2023 circular. The clarifications seems to have provided some relief to the REs for provisioning but has also maintained disappointment for the AIF industry.

Together with guest panelists from IQ-EQ and Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (UK), we are excited to bring you this exclusive webinar where the panelists will be discussing:

• Overview of the December 2023 circular
• Overview of the clarifications
• Issues with the clarifications
• Impact of the circulars on GPs
• Effect on LPs
• Way forward for GPs and LPs

Flow of the session

Speakers:

Atul Muchhala Managing Director IQ-EQ India

He has over 25 years’ experience in the alternate investment fund (AIF) sector spanning India, Singapore, and the Middle East. He has successfully set up private equity, real assets and mutual fund operations for prominent multinational companies based in India and the United Arab Emirates and has developed the AIF fund administration business for a leading global fund administrator in India.

Atul joined IQ-EQ in 2022 to drive expansion of the group’s India operations, with focus on providing local service delivery to India-based clients in the alternative funds sector.

He is a chartered accountant with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.

Neha Khosla Investment Lead Fund of Funds & Innovation British High Commission

Neha, Investment Lead at the FCDO, is a seasoned professional with expertise in impact investments and structured finance. Leading the UK's investment strategy in India, she focuses on initiatives such as the Fund of Funds, supporting social venture funds for inclusive innovations, and the Global Innovation Partnership Fund, promoting innovation transfer through South-South cooperation.

Nandini Pathak Leader, Funds Practice Nishith Desai Associates

Nandini Pathak is a Leader in the Fund Formation practice at Nishith Desai Associates and is actively involved in the firm’s thought leadership on the venture capital (VC) and private equity (PE) side of funds. Her focus area has been fund formation for India focused funds for almost a decade now. With a strong focus on VC / PE funds, she has advised several international, foreign and domestic clients on legal, regulatory and tax issues, fund governance and fund economics best practices and negotiations with various participants at the fund formation and closing stages. Her expertise includes tax efficient structuring for India focused funds as well as LP-GP negotiations. She also regularly advises clients on the regulatory front including on securities laws and exchange control laws.

Dibya Behera Senior Member, Funds Practice Nishith Desai Associates

Dibya Behera is currently a senior member of the Investment Funds practice at Nishith Desai Associates, Mumbai. He has an extensive experience of working across a broad spectrum of funds matters, both domestic and international. He regularly advises GPs on the structuring, establishment and launch of private equity and venture capital funds, including the drafting and negotiation of PPMs, charter documents, Investment Management Agreements, Subscription Documents and Side Letters. He also has an experience of working on setup of funds in different jurisdictions such as Mauritius, Singapore and Netherlands.

He has been also involved in the representation of limited partners in their negotiation with GPs. He routinely provides legal advice in connection with private equity and venture capital fund governance and regulatory compliance. He has extensively interacted with the SEBI and different third party service providers for seamless launching of funds. In addition, he has been part of the team making several presentations to SEBI and IVCA on issues pertaining to set up, operations and governance of AIFs. He regularly contributes in writing on topics related to investment funds.

Partner:

IQ-EQ is a global, top-tier investor services group with an unrivalled offering to meet the administration, compliance and reporting needs of the investment sector in full and worldwide.

We make life easier, more efficient and cost effective for our clients – be they fund managers, pension or sovereign wealth funds, multinational companies or family offices – by providing everything in one place. Our services are underpinned by a Group-wide commitment to ESG and best-in-class technology including a global data platform and innovative proprietary tools supported by in-house experts.

We employ a global workforce of 5,500+ people across 25 jurisdictions and have assets under administration (AUA) exceeding US$750 billion. We work with 13 of the world’s top 15 private equity firms.

To find out more, visit www.iqeq.com or contact our Head of Business Development in India, Mrs Khushboo Chopra: Khushboo.chopra@iqeq.com