Insights successthe 10 best constitutional legal firms in 2017

www.insightssuccess.in December 2017

The way of business solutions

10

Best THE CONSTITUTIONAL

LEGAL FIRMS in

2017

Expert’s Viewpoint Ease of doing business in India

Finance Talk Karan S. Thukral Managing Partner

Security Transaction Tax: Payable on the value of security

Thukral Law Associates

A Pioneer in the Legal Industry of India and Abroad

Editorial

E

very day is a day for a new beginning and every day is a day for innovation. With science and curiosity comes innovation and with invention comes new technology. Technologists are bringing out new technologies each day to make our lives a little easier to live in each day. The technology is not only redefining our lives and lifestyle, but is also remoulding itself to surprise us with creative opportunities.

Technology is getting into the veins of every existing item, from food processing to shoe stitching and even into the legal world. Often, people wonder how legal industry is influenced by the modifications in the technological sector, but the introduction of computers and smartphones have changed the entire human civilization, of which law is no exception. Technological advancements have made it much easier for the law professionals to get, access, store and share information in a lightning speed with extreme accuracy.

Technology Redefining the Legal Structure of India

While witnessing the legal structure of India, one can easily say that there are multiple problems faced by courts, judiciary and public seeking justice in terms of backlogs, delays and expense. Though there are numerous dimensions to these problems, improvements in operational efficiency, coordination, accessibility and speed, the information technology, along with computer and internet can contribute significantly towards the improvement and elimination of such difficulties.

The entire judiciary system suffers from these problem but the subordinate courts, mainly district ones, suffer the most. The major issues like Judicial Commissions and Committees referring to delays, arrears and backlogs can be overcome if there is a proper judicial management information system. Anything from Case Management, File Management to Docket Management can be improved vastly by the usage of computers.

With the introduction of modern technologies into the world of law in India, a reduction of delays and an enhanced productivity is expected.

It can also be expected that there will be improved legal information databases, online query system for precedents, citations, codes, statutes, generation of cause list and on the line/online statistics reports, online caveat matching, online updation of data, monitoring and flagging of events, pooling of orders and judgments, and other similar features like international data bases and feedback reports of various base levels.

Rajarshi Chatterjee

Editor-in-Chief Pooja M. Bansal Managing Editor Rajarshi Chatterjee Co-Editors Sachin Bhandare Debasmita Dutta Contributors Shweta Priyadarshini Art & Design Director Amol Kamble Co-designer Rahul Kavanekar Picture Editor Alex Noel Art Editor Karan Gaikwad Visualiser Shweta Shinde Business Development Manager Akansha Garewal Marketing Manager Dhruv Apte Business Development Executives Joan, Rutuja, Meera Research Analyst David Circulation Manager Vivek Database Management Sharad Technology Consultant Swapnil Patil sales@insightssuccess.com

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Thukral Law Associates A Pioneer in the Legal Industry of India and Abroad

Article Finance Talk

26

Security Transaction Tax: Payable on the Value of Security

Revamping Counsel

20

Is your law ďŹ rm attracting the right clients?

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32

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Specialist’s Column

Experts’ Viewpoint

Business Talk

limelight:All -in-One Marketing Platform

Ease Of Doing Business In India

Indias Fintech revolution is primed to put banks out of business

Banthia & Co. Advocates: A renowned name in the Legal World for Delivering Excellence, Growth and Perfection Internationally

18 IndiaLaw LLP: One-Stop Solution for Legal Affairs from Courtroom Litigations to Boardroom Negotiations

28 Khaitan & Co: The Foremost Expert in the Practice of Law

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The 10 Best

Constitutional Legal Firms in 2017 Constitutional Legal Firms, Supporting Businesses to Stay Worry-Free From Legal Issues

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he current Indian legal environment is going through a paradigm shift. The nature of this industry is dynamic. It is thus accepting all the technological advancements to take the country's legal standpoint to the global forefront. After all the capital investment, proper team, revenue generation methods, what a company needs is a legal support.

To showcase some of the best legal firms of India which are legally supporting leading businesses in the nation and abroad, we have come up with our latest edition, “The 10 Best Constitutional Legal Firms in 2017”.

In the Cover of this issue, we have Thukral Law Associates: A Pioneer in the Legal Industry of India and Abroad. The Thukral Group is an Indian law group that substantially comprises of diversified structured firms by providing extensive range of legal services and legal representation to domestic as well as international clients in various fields of law. It is a leading legal firm partnering with more than 120 law firms and international lawyers around the globe. The firm is extensively providing legal services and advisory directly to international clients from more than 25 countries.

The Managing Partner of the company, Karan S. Thukral, talked about the specialty of the company and said, “We provide clients with national and international reach, while maintaining the responsiveness, decision-making and cost effectiveness they have come to expect with an independent law firm.”

Along with this interesting cover story, this edition comes up with some interesting stories of the major contributors of the Legal Industry as Banthia & Co. Advocates: A renowned name in the Legal World for Delivering Excellence, Growth and Perfection Internationally. It is a leading legal firm with presence across India and five other countries and with exceptional legal services relating to representation of its clients in business, litigation, property and real estate matters.

IndiaLaw LLP: One-Stop Solution for Legal Affairs from Courtroom Litigations to Boardroom Negotiations. It is a PAN India law firm, which stands as a one-roof solution to people or organizations seeking support in legal affairs, from courtroom litigations to boardroom negotiations. Khaitan & Co: The Foremost Expert in the Practice of Law. It is one of India's oldest full-service law firms that combines a rich heritage of over a hundred years with modern, cutting-edge and solution-oriented legal practice and offers specialised advisory services to its domestic and international clients.

This issue has also come up with some amazingly crafted articles by the experts of the industry like Gautam Khurana, Founder & Managing Partner at India Law Offices and Ritika Sharma, an Advocate at India Law Offices. Along with these interesting articles by the specialists, we have come up with some masterly articles by our in-house editors as Security Transaction Tax: Payable on the Value of Security.

Hope you will enjoy reading this issue.

Karan S. Thukral Managing Partner

Associates A Pioneer in the Legal Industry of India and Abroad

I

n these changing times, when the world is quickly pacing towards the easy to access technology that makes lives easier to live, the legal industry is undergoing a paradigm shift. The industry now looks more reshaped than ever before. Gone are those days when law was all about legacies of a family pursuing the profession, toiling long hours, sweating it out and more, but with the advent of technology, advanced tools and apps on hand, the face of the legal system seems to have a sudden makeover. Law isn’t just a means to make money, but it’s an instrument to secure people’s justice.

With the impact of technology and influence of the client relationship, and financial and corporates suffering from the effects of the economic downturn, there’s still plenty of scope for growth in the emerging markets.

Seeing the space to grow and the necessity of a legal firm to help companies and individual to handle legal matters with ease, enters The Thukral Group, a leading Indian law group substantially comprising of diversified structured firms providing extensive range of legal services and legal representation to domestic as well as international clients in various fields of law. One of the most important segments under the group is Thukral Law Associates, a leading legal firm partnering with more than 120 law firms and international lawyers around the globe.

The beginning of the firm was extremely humble and the law journey commenced in a tiny 300 sq. ft. office with the acquisition of one computer, a printer and an extremely modest capital of Rs 20,000. Now, after myriad years and hundreds of sleepless nights, The Thukral Group has catapulted to soaring heights and the firm is now the best option to opt for representation for individual and numerous corporate entities. Entrepreneurship is a lifestyle and not a science. For Karan S.Thukral, the first opportunity arrived with the immigration sector where people who have moved abroad faced difficulties with their legal matters in India. With great foresight, vision and lucrative dreams in his heart, Karan established the The Thukral Group.

Being a leading firm in the nation and abroad, various cases handled by this firm have been highlighted and published in the most renowned media publications all around the global like The Guardian, Indian Express, The Hindu, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal.

The extraordinary services of Thukral Law Associates have helped the company to win

“

Being a lawyer is not a job, it's a lifestyle.

Based on the principles of practice area specialization and complementary advantages, we assign professionals who are the most experienced in the related elds to each case to ensure that the client receives customized response to their needs

The Areas in Which the Expertise of the Firm Lies The Thukral Group is diversified in various sectors of the legal industry. It consists of Thukral Law Associates, Thukral Business Services, Thukral Global Immigrations, Thukral Real Estate, and Thukral Espion Services. Each of these sectors specializes in each of its respective areas of expertise. With a wealth of experience and enormous expertise in the legal atmosphere of India and the world, The Thukral Group works primarily in the sector of Constitutional Law, Government Laws & Writ Petitions; Litigation, Divorce, Family Laws, Child Custody, Inter- Country Adoptions; International Arbitrations; Real Estate, Property Matters, Inheritance Laws, Wills; Corporate Consultancy, Business Startups, Subsidiary Launch; Immigration Law, Citizenship Matters, Deportation & Extradition; Investigation & Exploration Services.

Thukral Law Associates, being the most important segment of the firm, caters its legal services to people from 25 countries worldwide. It enjoys the distinction of being one of those firms which have a full legal service presence in almost all major cities of India through its associate offices, including New Delhi, Gurgaon, Punjab, Mumbai, Chandigarh, Jammu, Allahabad, Nainital, Bangalore, Pune and Haryana.

The firm extensively deals with the litigation aspect of work and has built up a renowned reputation in the

“

multiple awards, including Best NRI Law Firm-2015, M&A Legal Awards; Best NRI – Dispute Resolution Professionals, I PAC Legal Awards-2016; Best law Firm for Family Law: Divorce & Adoptions, Constitutional Law Firm of the Year, I PAC Legal Awards -2016; Acquisition International Awards, England-2014; Best Professional for Wills, Inheritance, Acquisition International- England-2015; Civil & Criminal Litigation Law Firm of the Year, International Advisory Experts-2016.

legal fraternity.

The firm was set up with the mission to serve people as Lawyers, specifically those who are living around the world far away from their home town in India. With a vision to provide the clients with skilled legal advice in a timely and efficient manner, the firm strives to handle each matter with accountability and responsiveness in a highly efficient manner.

The Firm Ensures Legal Services Easily Available, Affordable and Hassle-free “With every challenge comes equal and opposite opportunity. It's the law of universe! Every challenge is an opportunity to recognize something important, seize the opportunity- make a difference! Among the daily challenges, one of them is to uphold communication with our global clients. We have tackled time zone differences to coordinate with our international clients in certain cases where collaboration is required,” said Karan S. Thukral, the Managing Partner of Thukral Law Associates. Apart from this, like any other firm, Thukral Law Associates also faces challenges like Consumer Education as in almost every case, the client has something at stake, either money, freedom, reputation or anything else, and a failure to properly understand what is happening can lead to catastrophic consequences.

The Managing Partner of the firm quotes a line of Henry Ford, “Coming together is a beginning, keeping together is a progress; working together is success”. He clearly states that his valuedteam and its power of co-operation are helping the firm to overcome every challenge that comes on its way. With such motivation and high team spirits, the firm helps NRIs as well as domestic clients to handle legal matters with ease. NRIs and other individuals residing in foreign countries often find themselves in the middle of a complex web of Legal Situations, sometimes affecting their overseas

immigration status/career or even their ability to visit India. It is where Thukral Law comes into the scene to help those people who are seeking help for certain legal guidance.

With an objective to make available legal services which are affordable and hassle free, Thukral Law Associates offers a service which helps their clients residing in foreign countries to not be physically present in the court, saving them from losing their earning while staying from home as well as ensuring their personal safety in serious cases. The embodiment of a successful lawyer, is committed to being of service to others in an ethical, compassionate, and caring manner. One has to be committed to building and fostering relationships.

Provides Personalized Legal Solution to Each of its Clients Being an independent firm, the office has the flexibility and the focus to offer clients with outstanding and responsive service in litigation as well as corporates needs. Each of its clients enjoy personal attention backed by personal commitment. The Managing Partner of the Firm spoke about client satisfaction and said, “By fully understanding our clients' objectives and taking ownership of their situations, we can assemble the appropriate legal team to meet our clients’ needs. We listen, advise and deliver our absolute best in every case.”

Mr. Thukral further added, “Nowadays, law firms and lawyers are hired to help clients avoid pitfalls and identify problems before they’ve arisen, rather than sitting at desk waiting for the problems to come to you.”

The firm is strictly against the idea, “One size fits all” and gives a personalized legal solution to each of its clients. “Based on the principles of practice area specialization and complementary advantages, we assign professionals who are the most experienced in the related fields to each case to ensure that the client receives customized response to their needs,” said the Managing Partner of Thukral Law Associates.The law firm just does not revolves around the formula

A successful lawyer starts with a strong foundation of knowledge and communication, and, more often than not, that's what's enticing to a larger vision

‘‘

Professional success cannot be measured through nancial and materialist milestones.

That is never the case as the only true yardstick of professional success is achieving excellence in the practice of law and savoring the professional gratication that ows from it.

of merely providing legal services to clients, but provides a set of effective management systems like Strategic Planning, Financial Management, People Management, Administrative Systems, Managing the Production of Legal Services, and Information Management System. Mr. Thukral is leading the firm to ensure that all aspects of operating the law firm have been accounted for and are monitored, and progress is being made towards improvement.

About the Leading Entrepreneur behind this Promising Legal Firm Mr. Karan S. Thukral is the Managing Partner of The Thukral Group as well as the Managing Partner of Thukral Law Associates. He is a practicing lawyer who is credited with the inception and establishment of four different entities, each operating in a distinctive service segment. In his capacity as the Managing Partner of the firm, Mr. Thukral has been the chief architect in making a shining presence of the The Thukral Group in almost every field of law, internationally and within India.

The pivotal aim, which he has always kept in mind, is to serve the community as a lawyer, not as a business man.

He substantially gives the credit of his success to his father, Mr.H.S.Thukral, who is also a prominent lawyer practicing in the Delhi High Court. Serving the community is a crucial point, which can’t be ignored. As a real lawyer, he thrives to fight for what is right and bring appropriate result through the justice system. In addition to his pivotal role as the Managing Partner of the Firm, he is actively involved in advising and guiding foreign and Indian clients on diverse matters involving International and Indian laws. His name and the law firm appear in the global legal directories of lawyers, law firms & Attorneys in Gulf Advocates. He is a foreign associate Business and Immigration lawyer with the famous international Beijing Yingke Law firm in China.

Interestingly, he and the firm became the International Partner of RL Advocates Law Firm in the year 2015 in Lisbon, Portugal.

In various prominent legal cases of the nation, including the one where a prominent doctor was struggling to take her adopted child back to the US, Thukral represented and successfully handled the matter. He was also the main legal counsel who represented the Australian couple before the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court

“Coming together is a beginning, keeping together is a progress; working together is success”

in the famous surrogacy case. He was also the main legal Attorney representing the Solicitor from Canada in the well-known adoption case before the Delhi High Court.

Thukral has been practicing constitutional law dealing in mostly writ petitions directed against the government departments and banks. Karan is an extraordinary entrepreneur who is not only leading this promising legal firm, but is also actively associated with various trades, industries and legal bodies, bar associations including the American Bar Association, Chicago; Inter-Pacific Bar Association, Japan; AEA International Lawyers, Europe; International Bar Association, London; Delhi High Court Bar Association, India; Canadian Council – International Law, Canada; and Australian & New Zealand Society of International Law, Australia.

The Future of the Legal Industry from Thukral's Perspective The legal profession in India has undergone various changes over the last few decades. Since 1991, law as a profession is not limited to the three organs - Legislature, Executive and theJudiciary. Law has witnessed dynamic changes while also covering the whole range of financial activities in the country, including industry, media, Intellectual Property Rights, Information Technology, data protection etc. Legal education in India, which has emerged as an honorable career , has witnessed an emerging scope as the field is still growing.

Thereof, legal education has a promising future, if you are able to keep it up with your devoting attitude.

After personally overseeing the impediments and hurdles that a single independent young lawyer faces in this diverse and overly competent field, Mr.Thukral identified the main five assets which brought his vision to reality, and they are Patience, Courage to take risks, Readiness to Evolve, Humility, and Innovation.

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Uday Singh Ahlawat Corporate Commercial Partner

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Khaitan & Co is one of India’s oldest full-service law firms that combines a rich heritage of over a hundred years with modern, cutting-edge and solution-oriented legal practice and offers specialised advisory services to its domestic and international clients.

Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan lakshmisri.com

V. Lakshmikumaran Managing Partner

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SRB JURIS is a synthesis of traditional legal expertise and cutting edge legal innovation. We strive to identify the exact legal needs of our clients and cater to them.

Thukral Law Associates thethukralgroup.com

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The 10 Best

Constitutional Legal Firms in 2017

Banthia & Co. Advocates: A renowned name in the Legal World for Delivering Excellence, Growth and Perfection Internationally

C

onsidering the dynamic nature of the legal industry, there arise a necessity for the adaptation of the changing environment and the acceptance of technological advancements in the profession. Change is the only constant thing in the world; hence, the enterprises and organizations which are constantly changing and molding themselves are doing wonders in the field and staying firm in this stiff competition. Banthia & Co. Advocates is one such leading legal firm which is constantly evolving to improve its methodologies in order to provide a better and trustworthy environment to clients along with a growth-oriented and friendly atmosphere to the budding lawyers of our country.

Established in 1953, Banthia & Co. Advocates has evolved as one of the top law firms in India having its presence in more than five countries including the USA, UK, Dubai, Singapore, Turkey and over 12 cities all across India. With a passion towards serving the legal profession and real estate matters internationally, Banthia & Co. Advocates operates two delegate international offices in New York and Chicago, providing multiple services pertaining to Legal Outsourcing, Paralegal and Secretarial Services with a team of over 400 advocates.

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With expertise in Indian local laws and specialization in property law and real estate matters, the firm also serves Archdioceses/Dioceses and Religious Congregations of Roman Catholic Church spread across the globe. For their extraordinary services, Banthia & Co. Advocates has been recognized as one of the most promising consultants in India and abroad by various well-known media publications. The clients of this company have constantly endorsed the firm and its services for their internationally accredited legal solutions. The company has efficiently served some of the biggest organizations of the world, including Clinton Foundation and World Bank with regard to the settlement of their properties and counsels them on investments worldwide. Nationally, it deals all areas of banking laws and has served the topmost banks in the country including ICICI and HDFC. Driven by the Motto to Ensure Prompt Legal Services Worldwide In any field, what counts more than anything is their experience in that particular sector and, Banthia & Co. Advocates has had a successful career of more than half a century in the legal profession. Currently, the firm is serving around 20 Archdiocese/ Diocese and 80 Religious Congregations worldwide and the firm has also started a UK based KPO

company in the name of Banthia Legal Services UK Ltd. The firm shares their secret mantra behind this extraordinary career and states, “We in Banthia & Co. Advocates believe in excellence, growth and perfection in the work entrusted to us.” It further adds an interesting angle by quoting, “We as a firm, believe in the commitment and energy of the youth and for that reason most of the advocates in our firm are below the age of 50 years.”

Establishing Trustworthy and Friendly Legal Atmosphere Resourcefully Equipped with the state-of-the-art and communication facilities, Banthia & Co. Advocates pinpoint ‘expertise in local laws’ as its forte and ensures maximum competency along with added benefit to have an easy access to local resources for in-depth research and investigations. The company also pledges to deliver various inputs and valuable insights for the development of the economic and commercial condition of the country. It declares ‘Regularization of Properties’ as their flagship offering and shows a successful career in dealing with international investment & property matters.

Started with only three offices and a

| December 2017 |

‘ We foster to maintain a long-term, comprehensive relationship with our esteemed clients

workforce of 10 advocates, currently Banthia & Co. Advocates has a full-fledged team of 400 advocates and 23 offices across the world. The Owner of this company Neelesh Banthia shares the credit behind the company’s successful position to his team and says, “The credit goes to my whole team who has worked with me day and night for the rising of this firm not only domestically but internationally as well.” Under the leadership of such a highly experienced legal professional, the company is diversifying the legal profession by imparting discipline, commitment and honesty, and also with the ability to deliver the assigned task as fast as possible.

About the Man behind this Leading Legal Firm

Early in the year 1953, Late Shri Nihal Singh ji Sb. Banthia establish the company, headquartered in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, with the vision to bring together committed and specialized advocates under a roof to provide the best possible legal services to the clients of various sectors in central India. Currently, the company is led by his son Mr. B.S. Banthia, a renowned Supreme Court Advocate, and his grandson Neelesh Banthia, a seasoned lawyer with a wide experience in dealing with legal matters across the globe.

| December 2017 |

With a wealth of experience of almost two decades, Neelesh effectively manages a team of around 350+ lawyers, specialized in handling a variety of legal works in different jurisdictions across continents. His commitment, vision, dedication and persistence have helped Banthia & Co. Advocates to emerge as a multifaceted International law firm.

He started his career as a Pilot Officer and later worked in numerous organizations abroad. Realizing the lack of commitment, punctuality and loyalty towards clients in the Indian legal industry, Neelesh joined this profession to carry on the legacy of his family while bringing a change in this profession with dynamic approach and reorient the conventional ways of legal practice with commitment, honesty, obedience and ability to deliver the work in least possible time. For his extraordinary deeds, Neelesh was awarded with the membership of International Council of Jurists.

Neelesh Banthia Co-founder & Owner

globally in the near future, Banthia & Co. Advocates is working on the due diligence and compliance in relation to property and investment matters. The company has already entered into ventures like Knowledge Process Outsourcing and is currently working on developing offices in Abu Dhabi, Australia, Canada, France and Kuwait and making plans to venture further into more legal fields.

Building Milestones of the Future Apart from expanding its services

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T

he Outlook of a Law Firm In this highly competitive world, the success of every organization depends on how creatively they handle their clients.

Their success depends on acquiring the right client and to do so it has to device a foolproof marketing strategy.

Successful business stories are written by strategizing plans and implementing them properly at the right place and at the right time to achieve the intended goals. To succeed in this highly ambitious and competitive world, a law firm has to properly identify the type of clients it seeks. It should have a crystal clear idea of its target clients and should prioritize its goals, because if it doesn’t, it will end up making wrong choices and wrong decisions, which will, in turn, be detrimental to the wellbeing of the firm.

Research Matters!

Proper research on its clients will lead a firm to ascertain whether they are opting for the right clients. A detailed and thorough research on its clients can help a law firm to answer a few questions like: · Who are the company’s principal competitors?; · What is the potential market for the company’s goods and services?

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· What is the company’s strategic plan? and so on.

A law firm should run a proper background check on its prospective clients, their history, achievements and so on, to make sure that they are the right persons to pursue a business relationship with. A firm should also keep track of its competitors and make sure that they are always a step ahead of them. Moreover, it should also be extremely cautious regarding the authenticity and credibility of its clients.

Building Relation with Customers American entrepreneur Jim Rohn once said, “Either you run the day or the day runs you”. A law firm should be strategizing properly to get the right client not only for its own profit, growth and prosperity, but also to provide quality services towards their clients. Basically, law firms are focus to provide the best quality service and solution, because it smatters the most.

A law firm should always keep an eye for potential customers. Building better client relations helps in understanding how each client is unique in their needs, which in turn informs how to handle each relationship and helps to frame unique service strategies as per

the requirements of each client. Hence, it is always important to maintain a good relationship with everyone. Your peers, subordinates, former employers, relatives, even the vendors you deal with may be your prospective customers; hence, they should be treated with respect and honor keeping in mind your business agendas and plans. Maintaining acquaintances is very important as they can be sources to new clients. In order to survive and succeed in this era of stiff competition, a law firm has to advertise and promote itself (nowadays comfortably through the internet) creating an awareness about itself among the clients.

Quality of Service The success or failure of a law firm depends on the quality of services they provides. A successful law firm should always provide quality service to its customers. Lifting client service up on the ladder of priorities is a significant change for many firms. Customer satisfaction should be its prime concern. It should efficiently provide technically advanced, high-quality services to its customers. Having a proper combination of trained, devoted, experienced and skilled staff providing their services is very crucial for a law firm. | December 2017 |

Law Firms in the Digital Era This modern digital era demands a law firm’s presence in the digital platform where there are many possibilities of acquiring prospective customers surpassing physical barriers and boundaries. A digital platform can give a firm an extra edge and advantage of promoting itself. It also goes for law firms which are striving to succeed in the business. Moreover, maintaining cyber security strategies for protection against cyber threats is also equally important.

Technology is constantly changing and in order to remain relevant in this modern techsavvy era, one has to upgrade itself as per the need of the hour.

In this modern era of cut-throat competition, every law firm has to work very hard to acquire new clients and to retain the existing ones. In order to do so, it has to constantly research, constantly improve and has to come up with new strategies and techniques to make sure that it gets the right clients and provides its best services to them. Proper research will help them to get the right client and keeping good relation with them; it will help the organization to maintain the long run and will be beneficial for both the firm and its clients.

| December 2017 |

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Business Talk

India’s Fintech revolution is primed to put banks out of business About Balkishan Chandak, Founder Partner of SMART CFO Services LLP. He has 20 years of post qualication experience in various industries in Capital Restructuring, Fund Raising, Financial Analysis, Strategic planning, Budgeting & Forecasting, Commercial Negotiations, Corporate Tax planning, Supply Chain Management, Legal & Secretarial, Systems Development and ERP Implementation (SAP & Oracle). Balkishan proves his excellence as leader with a track record of documented contributions leading to improved nancial performance, heightened productivity, and enhanced internal controls.

With Balkishan’s superior management, communication, leadership and supervisory skills has “Hands on” style and willingness to embody the core values of the Company. A keen planner, strategist & implementer with demonstrated abilities in spearheading Finance function, he has accelerated the business growth. Under his headship, the company provides shared CFO Services to SME’s and Startups. Driving signicant improvement to the clients nancial health through innovative business solutions & supportive implementation, while building enduring business partnerships.

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Balkishan Chandak Founder Partner SMART CFO Services LLP.

| December 2017 |

A

t its heart, FinTech is the business of using technology to improve financial services. These services are the ways in which consumers and businesses manage, move and store their money: paying, lending, saving, borrowing, investing and so on. Fintech firms are aiming to fragment the finance industry by making these services more efficient, convenient and accessible.

Fintech enablement in India has been seen primarily across payments, lending, security / biometrics and wealth management.

These have been the prime focus areas for RBI and we have seen significant approaches published for encouraging fintech participations.

Impact of Fintech in Banking Banks have the two Cs which fintech start-ups want but cannot easily acquire—customers and capital.There are three areas where the Fintech disruption will be most keenly felt: • Consumer banking • Fund transfers • Payments and wealth management Additionally, there is a second wave of disruption making its market in the asset management and insurance sectors. Banks are adopting new solutions to improve and simplify operations, which fosters a move away from physical channels and towards digital/mobile delivery. 80% of the leadership felt that FinTech is or will be a strategic partner to banks. More than 75% of the banks are involved with FinTech companies whose services are focussed on consumer banking, payments and remittances.

A recent survey among consumerson various offering by Fintech Cos. gave us the below result Source : Website

Key service offerings to emerging on digital platforms by Fintech Cos. includes : • E-Wallet Services: Companies allow both private individuals and businesses to accept payments over the web and on mobile without needing merchant accounts. Transfers are made directly to the bank account linked to the payee in order to secure against fraud. Examples are Paytm, Mobikwik, and Oxigen Wallet.

• Remittance Services: A few Startup ventures, albeit registered abroad, are trying to address the gaps in remittance transactions (both inbound and outbound) as the current process is cumbersome and expensive. These start-ups aim to disrupt the current monopoly held by firms like Western Union and MoneyGram. Examples are Remitly, Instarem, and FX. • Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Lending Services: Companies use alternative credit models and data sources to provide consumers and businesses with faster and easier access to capital. P2P lending allows online services to directly match lenders with borrowers who may be individuals or businesses. Examples are Lendbox, Faircent, i2iFunding, Shiksha Financial, Market Finance, and GyanDhan. | December 2017 |

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Business Talk

• Personal Finance or Retail Investment Services: Fintech companies are also growing around the need to provide customized financial information and services to individuals, that is, how to save, manage, and invest one's personal finances based on one's specific needs. Examples are FundsIndia.com, PolicyBazaar, BankBazaarand Scripbox.

• Funding Services: This includes crowdfunding platforms that enable the funding of a project or business venture by raising funds from a large number of people. Such internet-mediated platforms are gaining popularity across the world as access to venture capital is often difficult to secure. These services are particularly targeted at the early stage of a businesses’ operation. Examples include: Ketto, Wishberry, and Start51.

• Cryptocurrency: India being a more conservative market where cash transactions still dominate, usage of digital financial currency such as ‘bitcoin’ has not seen much traction when compared to international markets. There are, however, a few bitcoin exchange start-ups present in India – Unocoin, Coinsecure, and Zebpay.

The future of payment is undergoing a transformation, as new entrants are enabling the market with new technologies such as contactless payment, NFC enabled smartphones, cloud-based PoS and digital wallets. Existing players should opt for strategic collaboration across sectors to increase customer acceptance, penetration of digital payments and create a lucrative model for each participant.

Hence, instead of clamouring about lack of regulatory supervision on fintech firms, existing banks could capitalize on their existing customer relationship and trust, and adopt products that allow for continuing these relationships via digital means as well. The growth of fintech presents an opportunity for them to not only reduce costs substantially, but also to modernize and attract those customer bases that are hitherto uncovered. Recognizing this potential, HDFC and Axis banks have launched mobile phone applications to ease handling of digital money for consumers. Federal Bank has partnered with Startup Village to support selected start-ups in developing innovative products for the bank.

Following initiatives have been taken by Govt recently to improve the banking services :• Apart from PPIs, another exciting development in the payments space is the so-called Payment Banks - new, stripped-down versions of banks conceptualized by the RBI.Approval to 11 entities for setting up Payments Bank • Introduction of “Unified Payment Interface” with NPCI,which holds the potential to revolutionize digital payments and take India closer to objective of “LessCash” society Source : Website

• Approval to 10 entities for setting upSmall Finance Banksthat can significantly run in favour of cause for Financial Inclusion.

• Release of a consultation paper on regulating P2Plending market in India and putting emphasis for Fintech firms and financial institutions to understand the potential of blockchain.

At the end of the day, FinTech is here to stay and start-ups are leading the way. According to a report by an analytics company, Tracxn, there were 750 registered FinTech companies in India in 2015 of which 174 launched that year alone.

Banking regulations are becoming more inclusive and banks are investing in FinTech start-ups. It’s yet to be seen which ones will emerge as winners but for now the momentum is on in this space.

The potential for FinTech start-ups to disrupt traditional financial services and banks in particular, has been recognised for some time now. In part, with the loss of confidence in banks following the financial crisis, some of this talk has taken the form of hope more than reasoned expectation. The start-up businesses we tend to refer to when we say’FinTech’ have certainly played up their difference to banks (and fair play to them), by marketing themselves as being able to provide a better service for less money thanks to new technologies.

But the question of whether they will replace banking and usher in a new era of finance without large banking institutions remains to be seen.

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| December 2017 |

Security Transaction Tax:

Payable on the Value of Security

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| December 2017 |

Finance Talk

I

ntroduced in the Finance Act 2004, Security Transaction Tax is a tax being imposed on all transactions such as sale/purchase transactions. This security transaction is applied on the stock exchanges at rates prescribed by the Central Government from time to time. It is an indirect tax which was made to lower the tax on short-term capital gains and to make the long-term capital gains released from the levy of any tax.

Among all the other countries, India has the highest taxes in stock markets.

STT is the largest fee paid by traders with discount stock brokers. In some cases, it’s over 100 times more than the brokerage itself.

Taxation of profit or loss from securities transactions depends on the activity of purchasing and selling of shares/derivatives which is classified as an investment activity or business activity. Treatment of STT depends upon whether the pay from these securities transactions should include in the ‘Profits and Gains of Business’ or under “Income from Capital Gains”.

An independent study by Securities and Exchange Board of India suggested STT on protective-put and hedged-call positions that should be reduced to give a boost to the market.

Many traders would not disclose profits made in the equity market and sidestepped tax on capital gains. But this system is changed in the last 10 years with the introduction of STT. The tax is collected by the broker along with other transaction charges such as stamp duty and exchange house levy and passed on to the Centre.

| December 2017 |

Long and Short Term Capital Gain To neutralize some of the negative impacts, long-term capital gains tax on equities were removed and short-term capital gains tax reduced to 10 percent.

Currently, a delivery trade in cash market attracts STT of 0.1 percent on traded turnover levied both at the time of purchase and sale of shares. Gain or lose is subject to Short-Term Capital Gains or Long Term Capital Gains tax depending upon the period of holding, i.e., if the holding period is equal to or greater than one year, gains is classified as LTCG and if the holding period is less than one year, gains is classified as STCG. STT of 0.025 percent on intra-day trades is not much but for a day trader, it is a certain increase in cost. STT can form 40-50 percent of the total transaction cost on equities. Other transaction charges include brokerage (of 0.01-0.03 percent on intraday), stamp duty (0.002 percent in Mumbai), exchange levy (NSE's is 0.00325 percent) and service tax.

and it varies with different types of transactions and securities. Securities transaction tax is deducted from equity mutual fund units at the time of redemption, when switched to other schemes, a sale of units and not on their purchase. STT is not applicable on off-market transactions.

Who deducts the STT? STT is a neat, efficient and easy-toadminister tax that virtually eliminates tax avoidance. Asset management company and brokerage houses deduct STT at source while executing the transaction. If an investor redeems his mutual fund units then AMCs are authorized to deduct at the source level, while if an investor sells his/her units to others through stock exchange then the respective brokerage house through which the client has sold will deduct the STT at the source. STT will be applicable in the case of a transaction that takes place in the exchanges. For availing the exemption in the case of long-term capital gain, the asset under consideration has to be subjected to STT. It is applicable on all selling transactions for both options and futures contracts. For the purpose of STT, each future trade is valued at the actual traded price and options trade is valued at a premium.

STT on Mutual Funds Every sale or purchase of securities which are listed on the Indian stock exchange is imposed with STT. This would include shares, derivatives or equity-oriented mutual fund units. The rate of tax that is deducted is determined by the central government,

STT is applicable at different rates depending upon the transaction (whether purchase or sell) and the security (whether equity or derivative).

After simplifying the tax structure and reducing it further the key is to increase the participation, which makes the market strong and less volatile.

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The 10 Best

Constitutional Legal Firms in 2017

IndiaLaw LLP: One-Stop Solution for Legal Affairs from Courtroom Litigations to Boardroom Negotiations

L

ike most other industry in the world, the Indian legal environment is also undergoing a paradigm shift. While glancing at the industry scenario, it apparently seems that recovery of debt was one of the major challenges of doing business in India. The experts of the industry say that the enactment of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 brought about a revolutionary change in the proceedings of debt recovery in the nation. Soon, the new law replaced the time consuming legal proceeding with a new process which is bound by a fixed time. The industry pioneers have informed that this will have a ripple effect on other legal regimes in the country and will gradually be evolving into a speedy justice delivery system.

One such leading organization which is contributing extraordinarily in the renaissance of the fast-changing Indian legal industry is IndiaLaw LLP (IL), a PAN India law firm, which stands as a one-roof solution to people or organizations seeking for support in legal affairs from courtroom litigations to boardroom negotiations.

Established in 1998 and headquartered in Mumbai, the firm has its presence in all major cities and state capitals in India, including 10 branch offices in the nation and more than 170 lawyers and ten partners.

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IndiaLaw has a large client base including several major national and multinational corporates from divergent sectors like banking, finance, automobile, engineering, information technology, FMCG, retail, hospitality, oil and energy, telecom, infrastructure, realty, pharmacy, insurance and logistics among many others.

Client Diversity of IL Truly Reflects its Expertise in Different Fields of Law The major achievement of IndiaLaw is its diverse client list. From industry leaders, Fortune 500 companies to budding startups, pioneering entrepreneurs to aspiring business leaders, IL treats each of the clients with equal attention. With experience that spans over multiple practices and jurisdiction, the firm provides tailored legal advice that proves to be the edge in situations that matter. IL uses stateof-the-art technology to ensure efficient handling of matters and provides real-time updates to its clients with only a click of a button. The firm further employs dedicated Client Service Managers to each of its clients to ensure real-time communication and efficiency.

The company asserts about its expertise and says, “We understand the complex workings of the law and handle each client’s legal needs with a

difference. We bring a unique outlook to the status quo to create resolutions that factor in the big factor.”

Areas in which IL has laid its Hands of Experience IndiaLaw LLP practices in various areas of legal matters and the prime areas in which the company focuses are as follows: • Litigation: IL has successfully handled various high profile and complex litigations in the Supreme Court of India and the High Courts.

The firm also regularly represents its clients before various tribunals and subordinate courts.

• Arbitration: IndiaLaw LLP has also developed innovative methods for execution of arbitral awards and decrees. With a strong team experienced in handling complex arbitrations, the firm has successfully handled thousands of execution proceedings across the country.

• Insolvency & Bankruptcy: IndiaLaw is emerging as one of the most preferred law firms in handling insolvency and bankruptcy proceedings. With an advantage of having offices in all cities with company law tribunal benches, the firm is handling many high-stake bankruptcy proceedings across various company law boards and representing many financial

| December 2017 |

‘ Our aim is to become number one insolvency and bankruptcy law firm in the country and currently we are on the right direction in this regard

institutions and other entities in bankruptcy proceedings.

• Real Estate: Having a dedicated division for the real estate sector, IndiaLaw firmly advises real estate and infra companies on land acquisition and project development including large-scale SEZ projects, integrated townships among many other infrastructure projects.

• Banking & Finance: Having established as a pioneer in banking litigation and finance arbitration, the firm stands as a ‘one-stop legal service provider’ in banking and finance industry.

• Merger & Acquisition: Having a robust corporate and M&A practice, IndiaLaw has advised on many domestic and cross border transactions in many areas including joint ventures and strategic investments, fund formations, asset purchases, franchise agreements and technology transfers.

About the Entrepreneur leading this firm

With over two decades of rich experience, K.P. Sreejith, Managing Partner at IndiaLaw LLP, is not only well acquainted with the legal landscape of Arbitration, Civil & Commercial litigation and debt recovery, but also helping corporates

| December 2017 |

handle such matters with ease.

While playing an instrumental role in introducing technology, Sreejith has instilled the best practices of the corporate world into IndiaLaw to make it the one-stop solution provider for the corporates seeking legal help. He has singlehandedly founded the company in the year 1998 and has led the team to successfully handle several civil and commercial litigations in the High Court of Bombay and other courts besides various non-litigation assignments.

Sreejith is more popular as an expert strategist, and his extraordinary deeds have earned him the nomination as the member of the National Task Force constituted by CII on Dispute Resolution. His expertise in Arbitration, Banking and Non-banking Laws has earned the company a loyal corporate clientele.

K.P. Sreejith Managing Partner

of having offices in all cities with National Company Law Tribunals, the company claims, “We can safely say that IL has filed maximum number of insolvency proceedings under the code at present.” Sreejith concludes the future plans of the company by saying, “Our aim is to become number one insolvency and bankruptcy law firm in the country and currently we are on the right direction in this regard.”

Vista of Future from IL’s Perspective

With a highly trained team, IndiaLaw progresses tremendously in handling matters under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. With the advantage

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Ease of Doing Business in India S

ince the year 2014, the Government of India has launched many effective reforms for setting up of business in India and paved the smooth platform to create the business friendly environment for the global investors who intend to invest in the Indian Market. Such remarkable efforts can be evidently seen from starting up of the business to the trading across borders, protecting the minority investors. As per the World Bank Report of Ease of Doing Business, 2018, India ranked 100th out of the 190 Countries which were surveyed which 30 place jump as compare to the last year’s ranking. The Report says that “India stands out this year as one of 10 economies that improved the most in areas measured

by Doing Business”. Several measures have been adopted the Indian Government to boost its ranking such as online system for obtaining the construction permit, implementing the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, registering the property, enforcing the contracts etc.

opened up for Foreign Investment in India. Such reforms have focused on the Ease of Doing Business in India by increasing the sectoral limit for the existing sectors and have simplified the conditions of the FDI policy with a view to make investor friendly.

FACTORS THAT LED TO EASE OF DOING BUSINESS IN INDIA

Ÿ Political Stability and Security Foreign Direct Investment is considered to be the most important factor for economic growth in the country. This is however depends upon the political stability of the country which includes the absence of violence, longevity of the Indian Government, legitimacy and effective decision making which in turn impact the development in the country.

Considering these factors, India is now recognized as one of the largest economy in the world because of the stabled economic policy and smooth access to foreign markets which provides the way for ease of doing business in India.

With the introduction of regulatory reforms for operating the Businesses in Ÿ Unexplored Markets India, many new sectors have been The investment in India is also

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Gautam Khurana Founder & Managing Partner India Law Offices

About Authors Gautam Khurana is an India lawyer, registered with Bar Council of India.

He is the Founder & Managing Partner at India Law Offices. He specializes in Foreign Inward Investments and Corporate Laws in India, with extensive experience in acquisitions & takeovers, corporate laws, cross border litigation & arbitration, Insolvency and bankruptcy, project & structured financing and direct & indirect taxes both domestic & overseas jurisdictions.

He is currently on the board of the reputed Indian as well as International companies and has advised clients across diverse sectors on all aspects pertaining to joint ventures, inbound investments and acquisitions. He is a frequent speaker in many Domestic & International Conferences & has spoken about business, commercial & legal matters in India & Europe. He regularly contributes to Jordan Publishing-Lexis Nexis on International Corporate Procedures & World Bank Survey on Ease of doing business. | December 2017 |

Experts’ Viewpoint

dependent upon the large section of markets which were remained unexplored. This could be explained by an example i.e. the setting up of the BPO Call Centre where the foreign investors had the large scope for exploring the domestic markets by which the service was rendered with the help of one call only.

Ÿ Labour Force: Talent & Skills The labour force in the Indian Market has also contributed in the economic development of the country. These labour are available in terms of skilled and unskilled human resources by which the foreign investors take advantage of cheap and skilled labors.

Further, The Ministry of Labor & Employment has taken the effective steps not only in developments of the technology but has adopted many changes in the laws and regulation which provides better clarity and alleviation in conducting businesses.

FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT To start with the Investment in India, the two routes i.e. the Automatic Route and the Government Route are known as Entry Routes. As per the Automatic Route, the nonresident investor who wants to invest in India doesn’t require the approval from the Government and with respect to the Government Route; the prior approval is mandatorily required. The Foreign Investment Facilitation Portal (FIFP) is the online portal introduced by Indian Government which facilitates the single clearance of applications. Once the application is submitted, it shall be directed to the concerned Department for processing in accordance with the Standard Operation Procedure.

Please note that the approval from FIPB (Foreign Investment Promotion Board) has been abolished and the new interface (FIFP) has been launched which makes the process easier and simpler with the single click only. | December 2017 |

ENTRY INTO INDIA

the investment in India.

There are several structures through which the Foreign Investors can carry out the business in India. These are as mentioned below:

Limited Liability Partnership An LLP is regulated by the Limited Liability Partnership Act, 2008 which came into force on 1 April, 2009. FDI is permitted in an LLP subject to the prior approval of the Government however, in case of Automatic Route, 100% FDI is permitted in an LLP. There are various sectors in the LLPs are not allowed to operate such as agricultural activity, plantation, print media or real estate business.

Liaison Office These offices are set up by the foreign corporations to carry out the liaison activity in India. In other words, it can be defined as a channel to facilitate the business promotion by establishing the permanent presence in India. However, all the expenses incurred in the Indian office are remitted from the Head Office.

Branch Office The branch office is setup by the Foreign Company in India with the approval of RBI and undertakes the permitted commercial activities. It can also carry the additional activities, subject to the permission of the RBI. The expenses incurred in the operations of the branch offices can be incurred by the Indian office as permitted by RBI, in case the Indian office does not receive any revenue from the Indian operations then the amount will be remitted by the Parent Company.

Project Office The Project office can be set up in India only after entering into the contract with the Indian Company and thereafter execute the specific project, subject to the approval of RBI and the fulfillment of other conditions. The project office is prohibited to carry out any other activities other than the project.

Local Indian Subsidiary Foreign Companies which can be set up as Wholly Owned Subsidiaries in the form of Private Companies, subject to the FDI regulations. The shares of these subsidiaries can be held by the foreign companies thus, considered to be the easiest and preferred route for

LEGAL AND REGULATORY REFORMS IN EASE OF DOING BUSINESS IN INDIA

Ÿ Insolvency Code With the introduction of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016, India has recognized the rights of foreign creditors to participate in the proceedings of the Winding up of companies. The Code provides easy exit mechanism with 180 day time bound process which resolves the insolvency dispute as compare to early passage of the Code which took 4-3 years in India to liquidate the business.

The Code is considered to be the key reform which facilitates the ease of doing business and ensures the optimum utilization of resources within a firm or releasing the unutilized resources for the closure of the firm. Ÿ Impact of Goods and Services Tax (GST) With the introduction of Goods and Services Tax (GST), it will attract more FDI because of the transparency in the tax reforms and ease of doing business.

This will further reduce the logistics cost, cost in tax and regulatory compliance, efficiency of supply chain which would create the platform for the foreign investors to enter into the Domestic Market and can also lead to the increase the export import trade.

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Experts’ Viewpoint

Ÿ Transfer Pricing In a move to boost Ease of Doing Business in the Indian Marker, the Government has introduced the Mutual Agreement Procedures and Advance Pricing Agreements with all the countries. Such change in the regulations have lowered down the compliance for domestic transfer pricing and also increased the international transactions.

CENTRAL GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES Ritika Sharma

Advocate, India Law Offices

About Authors Ritika Sharma is an Advocate, working with India Law Offices, having an experience in corporate and commercial areas. She has assisted several clients on various sectors including the Arbitration, Double Taxation matters, Anti-Dumping matters, Marine Insurance and Corporate Litigation.

Apart from the professional work, she has participated and presented research papers at various National and International Conferences in the areas of Corporate Laws, Intellectual Property Rights and Other Economic Legislations.

She has completed her masters in International Trade Laws from National University of Advanced Legal Studies, Kerala and is enrolled with Bar Council of Delhi in the year 2011 and holds the Certificate of Practice issued by the Bar Council of India.

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Ÿ Starting a Business in India With respect to the incorporation of Companies, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs have launched a new interface which is known as SPICe i.e.

Simplified Proforma for Incorporating a Company electronically) through which the company can be incorporated within 1 day. The concerned ministry has reduced the fee for incorporation of Company and also the requirement for company seal has also been eliminated at the time of incorporating a company. Further, the Government has also abolished FIPB to simplify the FDI proposals and have introduced the new network interface for submitting the single application. Ÿ Construction Permits Various Municipal Corporations in India have initiated the single window approval system for issuing the building permits with the various features such as Common Application Form, digital signature and online scrutiny of the building plans and maps eliminating the need of the physical submission of the documents. Also, the site inspection for construction permits has been minimized by way of selfcertification and introducing third party certification.

with a view to facilitate trade. Now, the importers and exporters can submit their declarations through online mode with digital signature. The documents for the filing purposes have been reduced to three which includes Bill of Lading, Invoice cum Packing List and Import Declaration.

Ÿ Enforcing Contracts The Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts Act 2015, has been enacted and are already in Delhi and Bombay High Court with a view to render the Speedy and Time Bound disposal of commercial disputes.

Further, the Government also proposed to set up the courts for electronic filing of complaints, summons and payments. Ÿ Electricity The distribution companies have stipulated that the electricity connection will be provided within 15 days and the number of documents which were required to be obtained for such electricity connection shall be reduced to 2. With respect to the industrial electricity connection, the NOC/Consent for setting up the new projects is not mandatorily required.

Thus, all the above discussed reforms would attract the foreign investment and are considered to be the big boost to the India’s business environment across the globe. Through these opportunities which were introduced by the Indian Government, it has paved the way for foreign investors, particularly Micro Small Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector in doing investment in the country.

Ÿ Trading Across Borders The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) has formulated the Single Window Project’ Mechanism | December 2017 |

The 10 Best

Constitutional Legal Firms in 2017

Khaitan & Co: The Foremost Expert in the Practice of Law

F

ounded in 1911, Khaitan & Co is one of the India’s oldest full service law firms, which combines a rich heritage of over a hundred years with modern, cutting-edge and solution-oriented legal practice that offers full service legal solutions to its domestic and international clients. The firm has a strength of over 540 fee earners, including more than a 110 Partners and Directors across its various offices. It is also recognised globally as a leading Indian law firm.

Khaitan & Co being a full-service law firm, offers specialized advisory services to clients across all major practice areas including Banking and Finance, Capital Markets, Competition /Antitrust, Corporate and Commercial, M&A, Dispute Resolution, Energy, Infrastructure and Resources, Environment Law, Private Clients, Funds, Hospitality, Intellectual Property, Labour and Employment, Real Estate, Taxation, Technology, Media and Telecom and White Collar Crime. The firm’s lawyers are widely regarded as much sought-after experts in their respective domains and bring a commercial and pragmatic approach to the practice of law in addition to rigorous legal analysis.

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The Rich Heritage and Legacy Khaitan & Co was founded in Kolkata by Late Mr Debi Prasad Khaitan, who went on to become a member of the Constituent Assembly (which framed the Constitution of India). He was subsequently joined by his brothers, Late Mr Lakshmi Prasad Khaitan and Late Mr Bhagwati Prasad Khaitan in establishing the firm and managing it.

Mr DP Khaitan started the firm to serve the purpose of representing the Indian business community in Kolkata during the pre-independence era as there were not many lawyers representing the Indian business community during those days. A majority of the law firms existing during that era would represent only British clients and hence, Khaitan & Co was set up to cater to the needs of a growing Indian business and mercantile community.

The firm then gradually expanded their offices in Delhi (1970), Bengaluru (1994) and Mumbai (2001) in response to its clients’ needs as also the business opportunities offered by the postliberalisation Indian economy.

Over the years, the firm has grown both organically and inorganically and is a professionally-run law firm, that

does not have the concept of a Managing Partner. The firm is managed by an Executive Committee (EC), elected by the partners of the firm. The EC comprises of partners and senior management professionals that oversee and manage the company’s strategy and operational functioning.

With expertise in commercial & corporate / M&A laws, Mr. Haigreve Khaitan serves as one of the senior Partners of the firm and a member of the firm’s Executive Committee.

Accolades and Attainment of Success Khaitan & Co has advised several Indian and International clients on noteworthy transactions across practice areas and sectors and has won some of the most prestigious national and international awards regularly over the years; it has also been ranked as a top tier firm across various leading international and Indian law firm directories, rankings and publications.

Some of the more recent awards and recognitions are Law Firm of the Year – India and Law Firm of the Year – South Asia, Asia law Asia-Pacific Legal Practice Awards 2017, India Deal Firm of the Year – Asian Legal Business (ALB) SE Asia Law Awards 2017, Law Firm of the Year and M&A

| December 2017 |

‘ We provide all our clients with relevant, commercial and holistic advice to allow them to achieve their objectives in a legally robust and practical manner

Law firm of the Year – IDEX Legal awards 2017, Law Firm of the Year India Business Law Journal – Indian Law Firm awards 2016, and Tier I Indian law firm – Corporate & M&A and Capital Markets - IFLR 1000 2017. A few of the Client Testimonials that highlight the firm’s innovative legal advice on complex transactions include:

“Outstanding pan-India firm highly regarded for its capacity to handle high-profile transactions on behalf of international private equity firms, investors and funds. Advises on the full range of corporate mandates includes M&A, joint ventures, pre-IPO placements, public takeover offers and corporate restructuring. Impressive track record represents clients in the defence, insurance, e-commerce and pharmaceutical sectors.”

“Khaitan & Co is very professional and deeply committed to ethics and integrity. Khaitan & Co’s corporate team delivers value for money and timely and quick responses to their clients.”

“Khaitan & Co has impressive expertise across a number of practice areas. Its corporate M&A practice in

| December 2017 |

particular received a lot of compliments, as one client says: “The team has deep knowledge and provides strong support in providing solutions.” And another client adds, “Khaitan will deal with matters promptly and efficiently. They will always seek to give our clients sound commercial advice.”

Contribution to the Legal Industry of the Nation Khaitan & Co has made a huge contribution towards the creation of the current mature legal market immediately after the liberalisation of the Indian economy. The firm has also partnered directly with the Government and Industry bodies and played a key role in drafting and advising on new laws and regulations, coming up with recommendations on various Government regulatory initiatives. It has been a part of the many committees drafting legal policies or frameworks. It has also been active in framing Constitutional law matters before the Supreme Court of India and various High Courts from time to time,

Haigreve Khaitan Senior Partner

for both individual and corporate clients.

The firm endeavours to provide all its clients with relevant, commercial and holistic advice to allow them to achieve their objectives in a legally robust and practical manner. This is achieved by developing deep industry knowledge and expertise which allows for a more meaningful and valuable advisory relationship between the firm and its clients.

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Anatomy of

GST for Leveraging Business Processes Keyur Shah Co-founder & Business Head SahiGST

Keyur Shah is the Co-founder & Business Head of SahiGST. SahiGST is one of India’s premier GST filing & reconciliation software. Suchi Gandhi also contributed to this post.

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| December 2017 |

SPECIALIST’S COLUMN

T

he advent of GST has changed the ways in which businesses across India will operate. With the aim to tap tax evasion and prevent loss of revenue to the government, a set of compliances have been introduced which includes filing of monthly returns, quarterly returns and annual returns based on the kind of business one operates.

For smooth functioning of the filing process along with keeping a constant tab on the tax collection, the government heavily relies on the GST Network (GSTN). GSTN is the centerpiece where all filings take place but the data can come in multiple forms. A taxpayer may upload the data directly to the government portal, use the offline utility to create a JSON file for filing or use an Application Service Provider (ASPs) to push data directly to the GSTN. While the first two approaches would work for a small business, businesses with large number of invoices will need some innovative solution built by ASPs to make this return filing process easy.

ASPs connect with the GST Suvidha Providers (GSPs) to push the data to GST Network. GSPs are just a pass through layer but important from GSTN perspective to distribute the huge load.

While the systems are still evolving at all ends - GSTN, GSPs and ASPs, using these software will help the taxpayers. Let us look at some of the benefits that these solutions can add: Validations: Validations are run to check for any errors in the data uploaded while filing returns based on specific criterias like validations are run for GSTINs, invoice numbers, values inserted etc. so that the return is not prevented from being faulty owing to trivial errors. Applications will add value by easily explaining the errors to taxpayers.

Reconciliation: Reconciliations are run for comparing data filed by the suppliers and recipients to avoid any missing of data and also smoothen the process for claiming ITC along with aiding in keeping a tab on evasion of revenues.

Real time uploads: Huge amount of data are uploaded in minutes to avoid delay in filing of returns.

Filing for multiple businesses: Organizations operating multiple businesses can file returns quickly for all the businesses in only a few steps.

Set off of liabilities: Payment of liabilities by setting off available input tax credits can be done with click of only a few buttons and electronic payment of balance liability by generating an e-challan has made the payment process quicker thus aiding in avoidance of late fees and interest.

Press release and Notifications: The users are up to date with any changes and information since press release and notifications are now available online and users can be updated real time.

Online facilities: Various facilities like registration, cancellations, payment of taxes, seeking refunds, availability of notifications and circulars, access to various acts, communication using the online helpline tools etc. are available which helps in preventing excess of paperwork and usage of time.

Usage of technology aiding an increase in transparency and with more taxpayers joining the net, we expect a positive growth and smoother functioning of businesses.

| December 2017 |

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