[Shambhavi Sinha is a final year B.B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) student at Symbiosis Law School, Pune] The Securities and Exchange Board of India (“SEBI”) allows an Alternative Investment Fund (“AIF”) to be constituted as a trust, a company, a limited liability partnership (“LLP”), or a body corporate under the SEBI (Alternative Investment Funds) Regulations, 2012 (the...
A Review of “Investment Funds in India – A Legal Handbook”
[Ganesh Rao is a partner at Trilegal] Alok Verma and Karan Trehan’s Investment Funds in India – A Legal Handbook focuses on the legal regime governing investment funds in India and, in doing so, is probably one of the first books to be published in this field. The Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (“SEBI”) SEBI (Alternative Investment Funds) Regulations, 2012 (“AIF Regulations”) are...
SEBI Introduces Greater Transparency in the AIF Space
[Vaneesa Agrawal is the founder and Rishi Ahuja an associate at Thinking Legal] The Securities and Exchange Board of India (“SEBI”) has, through a Circular dated February 5, 2020 (“Circular”), issued disclosure standards for the growing Alternative Investment Funds (“AIFs”) space. The Circular was preceded by a Consultation Paper dated December 4, 2019. SEBI has introduced performance...
Comparing Venture Capital Business Forms in India and China
My colleague Lin Lin and I have a working paper titled “Venture Capital In China And India: Does Business Form Matter?”. The abstract is as follows: This paper re-evaluates the importance of business organizational forms with regard to venture capital funds by exploring two major Asian markets, China and India. Evidence suggests that the limited partnership is the leading business form among...
Private Equity Investors as Promoters in an Initial Public Offer
[Guest post by Rashmi Ramanath, who is a 5th year B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) student at Jindal Global Law School in Sonipat] The Initial Public Offering (IPO) of SKS Microfinance was a first of its kind. It was for the first time that a group of four venture capitalists led by Sequoia Capital India were named as promoters to an issue. Vikram Akula, one of the company’s founders, owned a 6% stake in the...
Foreign Investments in Category III Alternative Investment Funds
[The following guest post is contributed by Kemi Gupta, who is a 5th year B.A., LL.B (Hons.) student at NALSAR University of Law] In a matter of only a few years,[1] India’s alternative investment industry has grown to Rs. 20,700 crore in size,[2] and is yet claimed to be in its early stages. Alternative investment funds (“AIFs”) constitute any privately pooled investment...
Liberalization of RBI’s Policies
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) last week issued a series of circulars liberalizing and streamlining its policies on various types of equity investments as well as on external commercial borrowings (ECBs). The key pronouncements are highlighted below: 1. Foreign Investment in “Other Financial Services” In the case of non-banking finance companies...
Venture Debt in India
[The following guest post is contributed by Dhanush M, who is a student at the Jindal Global Law School] It is an established convention that “Debt and startups don’t mix”. This could be attributed to the fact that the business models of banks and non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) who are the primary lenders in debt are built around collaterals like plant and machinery. Furthermore, lending...
Understanding the Exit Rights Provided by Private Companies
[The following guest post is contributed by Ananya Banerjee, a 5th Year Student of University of Calcutta, Department of Law] Investing in companies (especially in startups) involves a huge risk. For this reason, financial investors look for exit rights which allow them to exit the company with a high return on the investment amount. While the aim of the strategic investors is not to...
SEBI: Report on Alternative Investment Funds
Yesterday, the Alternative Investment Policy Advisory Committee appointed by SEBI under the chairmanship of Mr. Narayana Murtyh issued its first report. The Committee has suggested a number of reforms on different fronts, including creating a favourable tax environment for investors, unlocking domestic sources of venture capital and private equity, enabling and encouraging onshore fund management...
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