In our series on “Succession planning through private trusts”, we explore the growing role of private trusts in smooth and cost-effective transition of wealth from promoters to their successors. In Part 1, we focused on the key aspects of the Indian Trusts Act, 1882. In this part, we outline certain implications under the Income Tax Act, 1961.
TheNational Sports Governance Act, 2025(“Act”) marks a major milestone in reforming the regulatory framework for sports in India. For a long time, sports bodies in India have struggled with issues such as lack of transparency, internal disputes and irregularities in elections and administration. Previous government efforts to professionalize Indian sports through non-binding guidelines and directions have had limited impact.
The Act introduces a comprehensive legal framework for the recognition, governance and oversight of sports organizations in India. It establishes key institutions such as theNational Sports Board, National Sports Tribunal and National Sports Election Panel while mandating codes of ethics, safe sports policies, and transparency obligations under the Right to Information Act, 2005. By formalizing governance processes, the Act seeks to enhance accountability and professionalism in sports bodies, and build trust with investors and stakeholders. It creates a better environment for long-term commercial engagements, such as through leagues, affiliates and infrastructure, while aligning Indian sports with international standards.
This note explores the key provisions of the Act, its implications for existing bodies such as the Board of Control for Cricket in India, and emerging commercial opportunities through the corporatization of sports federations, public-private partnerships, data monetization, and convergence with the newly enacted Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025
The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 (the “Online Gaming Act”) introduces a new regulatory framework for the gaming sector. The Online Gaming Act marks a significant shift in India’s approach to online gaming by recognizing and promoting e-sports and social games, while prohibiting all forms of real-money online games irrespective of whether they are skill- or chance-based. It extends in its application to both domestic and offshore operators targeting Indian users, as well as other participants in the gaming ecosystem such as financial intermediaries and advertisers.
The Online Gaming Act prescribes stringent penalties for non-compliance and establishes a central Gaming Authority with wide-ranging supervisory and enforcement powers.
This note analyzes the provisions of the Online Gaming Act, the regulatory and compliance risks for industry participants and its future implications.
India’s maritime sector has expanded substantially over the past 10 years. To improve upon the growth spurt, the Government has recently adopted five new legislations with the aim to modernize regulations, boost investment and streamline port operations. This note seeks to highlight certain key provisions introduced in these pivotal legislations and recent policy.
In the past few years, the Reserve Bank of India (“RBI”) has issued directions to regulate investments by banks, non-banking financial companies and other regulated entities (collectively, “REs”) in alternative investment funds (“AIFs”). These regulatory measures have been primarily intended to curb evergreening of loans by REs, where REs substitute their direct exposure to debtor companies with indirect exposure by investing in AIFs that, in turn, have investments in such debtor companies.
Recently, on July 29, 2025, the RBI introduced the Reserve Bank of India (Investment in AIF) Directions, 2025 (“New Directions”), which increase regulatory oversight over REs’ investments in AIFs while also relaxing some of the prohibitions of the prior regime. The New Directions will supersede the RBI’s prior circulars on this subject, in relation to new investment commitments made by REs in AIFs. This note analyzes the New Directions, the improvements from the prior regulatory framework and the concerns that remain to be addressed.
India has witnessed a sustained increase in domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions (“M&A”) transactions over the past few years. Despite global M&A activity being subdued this year, M&A deal volumes in India during the first half of 2025 saw an 18% increase in comparison with the first half of 2024. Multiple factors, such as large-scale digitization, favorable investor sentiment and increasing domestic consumption, have contributed to the significant interest of global investors to be a part of India’s growth story.
Acquisition financing, which refers to the process of securing capital to finance the acquisition of equity in another company, is critical to the success of M&A transactions. Such financing could be in the form of debt or equity, raised domestically or from offshore funding sources. In India, debt financing for acquisitions and, in particular, offshore debt, is highly regulated owing to various restrictions imposed by the Reserve Bank of India and Indian exchange control regulations. This note explores the principal funding routes available for financing inbound and domestic M&A in India and the key considerations for market participants when structuring such financing.
The note examines foreign direct investment (“FDI”) as a significant driver for economic growth and globalization in India. Despite its growth, the legal regime governing FDI in India remains intricate, posing challenges for foreign investors seeking clarity and ease of doing business. This note delves into India’s FDI regulations, highlighting key issues such as a complex regulatory environment, protracted approval processes, and the challenges posed by sector-specific restrictions.
The note adopts an investor-centric perspective to analyze these barriers and explores how they affect foreign investment decisions. To address these issues, the note proposes certain solutions, including streamlining approval procedures, aligning sector-specific policies with global standards, and providing a clearer legal framework for dispute resolution. The objective of this note is to consider approaches that will enhance India’s appeal as an investment destination and promote sustained economic growth by recommending reforms that streamline the legal framework.
With effect from June 10, 2025, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (“SEBI”) has introduced certain amendments to the definition of unpublished price sensitive information (“UPSI”) under the SEBI (Prohibition of Insider Trading) Regulations, 2015, (“PIT Regulations”). The amendments aim to align the existing definition of UPSI under the PIT Regulations, which sets out an illustrative list of events constituting UPSI, with material events under Regulation 30 of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015.
This note analyzes the amendments and explains how the expansion of the definition of UPSI will recalibrate compliance obligations for listed companies and their insiders.
The Supreme Court of India in its recent judgement inVijaya Bank and Ors. v. Prashant B. Narnawareconsidered the legal standing of employment bonds in India. This note analyzes the Court’s affirmation of a differential approach in respect of restrictions effective during employment and those post-termination. It further highlights the Court’s stance on unequal bargaining power and its view on public policy considerations in India’s employment law paradigm.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (“SEBI”), in December 2024, amended the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Issue and Listing of Non-Convertible Securities) Regulations, 2021 to introduce a new asset class of ‘ESG debt securities’ that includes green debt securities, social bonds, sustainability bonds and sustainability-linked bonds. The amendments, however, did not provide the regulatory framework for the issuance of ESG debt securities; instead, pursuant to the amendments, SEBI retained the right to prescribe conditions for the issue of such securities. Our earlier analysis on these amendments is availablehere.
In this context, SEBI recently on June 05, 2025, issued a circular titled the ‘Framework for Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) Debt Securities (other than green debt securities)’ specifying the operational framework for the issuance and listing of ESG debt securities (other than green debt securities) in India. In this note, we analyze the changes to the existing regulatory regime introduced by the SEBI circular,and highlight key issues and concerns raised for relevant stakeholders in this regard.