Corporate & Commercial Advisory

Businesses today need advisors to handhold and support their daily corporate affairs and compliances while undertaking commercial business activities. Our lawyers understand the nuances of the business and challenges faced by corporates in an ever evolving complex legal and regulatory environment, whether the business is of a start-up, an operation of a foreign enterprise (in the form of a subsidiary / joint venture/ liaison office, branch office etc.) or an Indian corporate, where each has its unique corporate compliance requirements which need to be comprehensively addressed on a real-time basis. This also goes a long way in preparing an entity for raising future funding and mitigation of director risk.

Services Offered

The scope of our work comprises of the following areas:

• Structuring: We advise on complex legal issues around transactions, both domestic and cross border and provide innovative structures adhering to legal, regulatory and commercial needs of the client for investments in India.
• Setting up and post incorporation compliance: We specialize in hand-holding various overseas entities in establishing their presence in India, as well as start-ups formed in India including incorporation of different forms of entities, subsidiaries, branch/liaison offices, joint venture etc. Our lawyers also handle post-incorporation legal and regulatory compliances and registrations, including assistance in procuring mandatory registrations like permanent account number, tax deduction number, registering under the local shops and establishment laws etc.
• Annual disclosures and compliances: Indian regulatory environment require multiple statutory filings and disclosures to be made by organizations depending upon the nature of business, activity, foreign shareholding etc. A delay or failure in compliance may result in liabilities for directors in individual capacity. We undertake these activities comprehensively on behalf of clients to ensure compliance with various local legislations.
• Meetings and Secretarial Assistance: We assist organizations in convening and conducting requisite meetings of the board and shareholders, assisting on statutory filings with the regulatory authorities as well as maintenance of statutory records.
• Opinions: We provide legal opinions on contentious and unclear areas of corporate law, which assist enterprises in formulating legally tested strategies and mitigate regulatory risks.
• Commercial Contracts: With a deep understanding of several industry nuances including pharma, FMCG, high growth sectors, technology, fintech, ed-tech, AI/ML, crypto assets, etc., we provide assistance in drafting and finalizing complex commercial contracts including rental agreements, supply and distribution agreements, franchise agreements, licensing agreements, toll manufacturing contracts, collaboration and joint venture agreements, to suit the long-term business objective and requirements of clients.
• Annual Compliance Audits: We conduct annual compliance audits for organizations to provide an objective view of the extent of compliances by the organization and provide remedial solutions in case of non-compliances. This annual exercise ensures that non-compliance if any, is restricted to a year and thereby reduces the risk of penal consequences.
• Outbound activities: We project manage and handhold outbound initiatives of organizations whether to set up an entity, enter into joint ventures / collaborations, acquisition of assets or companies in close coordination with counterparts across various geographies. This facilitates reduction of overall fees, at the same time ensures quality and compliance with laws in different geographies in a seamless manner.
• Promoter advisory: We regularly advice promoters in crafting comprehensive strategies for creating promoter holding structures from an asset protection and succession perspective, creating inter se promoter agreements to address eventualities of promoter exit.