Recognition of a market infrastructure institution in an IFSC requires an application to the Authority in the prescribed form and manner, accompanied by the fee prescribed by the Authority.

Recognition as a market infrastructure institution in an IFSC requires the applicant to be a company incorporated in the IFSC and to comply with prescribed shareholding requirements.

Recognition is mandatory for any person seeking to conduct, organise, or assist in organising a stock exchange, clearing corporation, or depository in an IFSC. Such activities may be undertaken only after obtaining recognition from the Authority in accordance with the applicable regulations.

Definitions govern recognised market infrastructure institutions in an International Financial Services Centre, including stock exchanges, clearing corporations and depositories. Associate status covers control relationships, significant voting control, corporate relationships, relatives, Hindu Undivided Family membership, and circumstances involving control, independence or conflicts of interest. Foreign jurisdiction eligibility depends on recognised regulatory cooperation and the absence of specified Financial Action Task Force deficiencies. Netting offsets settlement obligations to determine net claims or liabilities, while novation makes recognised clearing corporations legal counterparties to trades.

International Financial Services Centres Authority (Market Infrastructure Institutions) Regulations, 2021 are made under the International Financial Services Centres Authority Act, the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act and the Depositories Act. They come into force on the thirtieth day after publication in the Official Gazette.

Minimum owned fund requirements classify finance companies by non-core, core, and Global or Regional Corporate Treasury Centre activities. Non-core-only entities must meet the higher applicable threshold and may receive exemptions subject to a Board-approved prudential policy and fit and proper criteria. Entities undertaking core activities must maintain the higher applicable capital threshold without exemptions. Global or Regional Corporate Treasury Centres must meet the higher applicable threshold and may receive a conditional exemption subject to prudential policy and fit and proper compliance.

Failure by a Finance Company or Finance Unit to fulfil conditions attached to registration permits the Authority to take appropriate action, including suspension, withdrawal, or cancellation of registration. Before taking such action, the entity must be given an opportunity to make submissions.

Regulation 10 authorises the Authority to issue circulars or guidelines prescribing norms, procedures, processes, modes and permissible relaxations for implementing the Finance Company Regulations, addressing incidental matters, and facilitating or regulating permitted financial services. Applicant entities, Finance Companies and Finance Units must pay fees and charges as specified by the Authority.

Every Finance Company and Finance Unit must furnish operational information to the Authority in the manner, at intervals, and in the form specified by the Authority. Financial reporting submitted to the Authority must be in US Dollar unless otherwise specified by the Authority.

Every Finance Company and Finance Unit must comply with Authority-specified corporate governance and disclosure guidelines. Mergers, acquisitions, takeovers, or management changes affecting control of a Finance Company require prior approval where they alter control of share capital or business decisions under an agreement. Parent-level changes concerning a Finance Unit require registration compliance and intimation to the Authority.

Every Finance Company and Finance Unit must comply with Know Your Customer norms, measures to combat financing of terrorism, anti-money laundering obligations, and reporting requirements applicable to a Banking Unit in IFSCs.

Currency of operations for a Finance Company or Finance Unit must be conducted in freely convertible foreign currency with persons permitted by the Authority. Permitted INR-denominated transactions must be settled in freely convertible foreign currency. An INR account may be maintained from such foreign currency for administrative, statutory and other authorised purposes. Balance sheets must be maintained exclusively in United States Dollars, and a Finance Unit must keep its transaction accounts separate from those of its parent.

Finance Companies and Finance Units may undertake specified core and non-core financial activities subject to prescribed conditions, registrations and activity-specific frameworks. Non-core activities must be conducted through separately identifiable departments, with firewalls preventing conflicts of interest and Board-approved grievance-redressal and customer-compensation policies. Transactions may be undertaken with residents and non-residents, subject to foreign-exchange law for resident dealings. Derivatives by entities carrying out non-core activities are limited to hedging underlying exposures, and speculative transactions may neither be undertaken nor funded.

For liquor businesses whose books of account are unavailable, profit estimation may be based on reported sales where those sales represent actual turnover and no independent evidence establishes suppressed sales. Estimating turnover by applying a gross-profit margin to the cost of goods sold is not appropriate in those circumstances. Comparable liquor-trade assessments support estimating profit at 5% of goods put to sale, applied to reported sales rather than an artificially enhanced turnover.

Finance Companies and Finance Units must comply with prudential requirements specified by the Authority, including a minimum capital ratio of regulatory capital to risk-weighted assets. They must maintain a liquidity coverage ratio on a stand-alone basis, subject to approved parent-entity maintenance for a Finance Unit. Aggregate exposure to a single counterparty or connected counterparties is limited to twenty-five per cent of the available eligible capital base without approval. Operational guidelines govern implementation.

Natixis has placed its Portugal and India Expertise Centers under common leadership to strengthen coordination, collaboration, knowledge sharing and consistent working methods across locations. Teams are to work through shared platforms and standards, supporting business continuity across geographies and time zones. The model also promotes talent mobility and international career development while supporting global operational needs and recognising each market's circumstances.

Registration is mandatory before an entity may commence business as a Finance Company or Finance Unit in an IFSC for permissible activities. Applicants must apply in the specified form and maintain the higher applicable minimum capital, owned funds, or net worth for their activity categories. Finance Units must maintain minimum owned funds on an unimpaired basis. The applicant entity or its promoters must be from a FATF-compliant jurisdiction and meet international standards for combating money laundering and terrorist financing.

Finance Companies and Finance Units may undertake permissible financial activities but must not accept public deposits from residents or non-residents or be registered as Banking Units. Finance Companies are separately incorporated entities, whereas Finance Units are permitted branches. Public deposits include demand-repayable and term-deposit amounts. Owned fund is calculated from qualifying capital and reserves after specified exclusions and deductions. Aircraft and ship leases include operating, financial and hybrid lease arrangements. Undefined terms adopt meanings assigned under applicable governing and company law.

International Financial Services Centres Authority (Finance Company) Regulations, 2021 establish the regulatory framework for finance companies operating in International Financial Services Centres. The regulations are made through the Authority's rule-making powers under the International Financial Services Centres Authority Act, 2019 and take effect from the date of publication in the Official Gazette.

Roasted areca nuts, whether whole, split or cut, fall under tariff item 2008 19 20 in Chapter 20 as other roasted nuts and seeds. High-temperature roasting, cooling and repeated roasting cycles are materially different from the drying, dehydration or moderate heat treatment permitted for Chapter 8 products. Heading 2008 and its HSN Explanatory Notes specifically include dry-roasted, oil-roasted and fat-roasted areca or betel nuts. The specific tariff entry for roasted nuts therefore prevails over the general entry applicable to dried nuts.