Cross-Border Advice for Indian Business
Going out is an Indian regulatory exercise before it is a foreign one.
Indian businesses expanding abroad usually take foreign advice first and Indian advice second, and then spend a year unwinding a structure that works perfectly well everywhere except in India. The exchange control position, the reporting chain and the round-tripping restrictions have to be settled before the foreign entity is incorporated, not after.
What we do
Overseas direct investment structuring, approvals, reporting and the annual performance requirement. Holding company location, considered against the Indian rules rather than only against foreign tax. Round-tripping analysis, which is where Indian groups with an intermediate offshore entity most often come unstuck. Acquisition of foreign targets, with the Indian side of the diligence, funding and approvals handled here and local counsel introduced for the rest. Distribution, agency, licensing and franchising into foreign markets, and the termination and compensation exposure attaching to each. Protection and enforcement of intellectual property abroad, coordinated with local counsel. Choice of forum, governing law and arbitration seat in contracts with foreign counterparties, which is a decision worth taking seriously at signature and impossible to revisit later. Employment and secondment of Indian staff abroad.