S&R Associates is a full-service Indian law firm with offices in New Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru providing legal services to Indian and international clients.
Our lawyers are admitted to practice in India and many have previously practiced law in other jurisdictions, including in the United States, the United Kingdom and Singapore. As a result, we offer our clients a unique combination of Indian law expertise coupled with international quality legal services.
We distinguish ourselves based on the quality of our services and legal advice and on the range of our experience. Our lawyers have advised on some of the most significant Indian transactions and matters in recent times. The quality of our legal advice and services has helped us become the law firm of choice for our clients and has also been recognised by various industry publications, surveys and rankings. Lawyers in each of our practice areas have routinely been recognised as leading lawyers in India by Chambers Global, Chambers Asia Pacific, IFLR1000, Legal500 and RSG India Report.
Recent Publications
Time to Revisit Secondment Structures: Delhi High Court’s FIS Ruling
Cross-border secondment arrangements have once again come under tax scrutiny following a recent Delhi High Court ruling, which held that reimbursement of salary costs of seconded employees (even without any markup) constituted “Fees for Included Services” under the India-USA tax treaty. The decision of this Court differs from earlier significant rulings by treating the foreign entity as the real and economic employer of the secondees and concluding that the secondment arrangement satisfied the “make available” condition under the tax treaty. The ruling has significant implications for multinational groups operating cross-border secondment arrangements, as it may increase their tax exposure and associated costs. This note analyzes the decision, draws contrast from the existing jurisprudence and highlights key considerations for structuring and implementing cross-border secondment arrangements.
Foreign Capital, Technology and Supply Chains
Globally, foreign investment is increasingly being evaluated through the lens of technological capability, national security, supply chain dynamics and strategic autonomy. In the current international environment, India seeks to balance openness to foreign capital with the development of domestic capabilities, reduction of strategic dependencies and managing economic engagements with other countries, including China.
As intangible assets increasingly influence enterprise value and competitive advantage in a volatile global economy, businesses have sought to incorporate technology governance, supply-chain resilience, geopolitical risk assessment and intellectual property protection, into investment, M&A and commercial decision-making.
Public Funds and Mandatory Listing: Navigating RBI’s Regulation of the Upper Layer NBFCs
With effect from July 1, 2026, the Reserve Bank of India has introduced certain amendments to thethe Reserve Bank of India (Non-Banking Financial Companies – Registration, Exemptions and Framework for Scale Based Regulation) Directions, 2025(“Updated Directions”).The Updated Directions,inter alia, bring in a modification to the criteria for determination of Non-Banking Financial Companies (“NBFCs”) in the Upper Layer and replace the erstwhile parametric scoring methodology (based on size, leverage and interconnectedness) with an asset size threshold of INR 1,00,000 crore (Rupees One Lakh crore) (approximately USD 10 billion at an exchange rate of 1 USD to INR 100) and above for identification of an entity as an NBFC in the Upper Layer.
This note discusses the framework for scale-based regulation of NBFCs and the implications of the latest amendments on the NBFCs in the Upper Layer with specific focus on the mandatory listing requirement for such NBFCs.