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IFSCA Act, 2019 · Professional Corpus

IFSCA Act, 2019 and GIFT City — Professional Corpus

A chapter-by-chapter decode of the International Financial Services Centres Authority Act, 2019, the key Regulations issued under it (Fund Management, Banking, Capital Market Intermediaries, Insurance, Bullion Exchange, FinTech Entity, Global In-House Centres), and practical masters for entry-route selection, tax interface and compliance calendars.

6 chapters7 regulations6 practice mastersReviewed through 2026-07-18
How this corpus works: Chapters map the IFSCA Act, 2019 itself (establishment, powers, enforcement). Regulations decode the specific rulebooks IFSCA has issued for each licensed activity. Practice Masters answer cross-cutting practical questions (which route to choose, tax treatment, compliance calendar). This is a structured Finin2min synthesis, not a verbatim reproduction of the official Act/Regulations text — always confirm exact current wording and thresholds against the official IFSCA source before relying on a position. See also the companion IFSCA and GIFT City Full Regulatory Hub for case law, a compliance checklist, glossary and source register.

IFSCA Act, 2019 — chapter-by-chapter

Chapter I — Preliminary and Establishment of IFSCAExtent of the Act, key definitions, and the constitution, composition and tenure of the International Financial Services Centres Authority.Chapter II — Powers, Functions and Regulation-MakingThe single-window regulatory jurisdiction Section 12–13 gives IFSCA over financial products, services and institutions in an IFSC, and its power to make regulations.Chapter III — Fund Management Framework OverviewHow Section 12 jurisdiction is operationalised for fund managers and investment schemes set up in GIFT City, ahead of the detailed Fund Management Regulations decode.Chapter IV — Banking, Insurance and Capital Markets Framework OverviewHow the same Section 12 single-regulator model extends to IFSC Banking Units, International Insurance Offices and Capital Market Intermediaries.Chapter V — Enforcement, Inspection and AppealsIFSCA's inspection, penalty and direction powers, and the Section 27 appeal route to the Securities Appellate Tribunal.Chapter VI — Miscellaneous: Fund, Accounts, Audit, Reports and ExemptionsIFSCA Fund, accounting/audit obligations, annual report to Parliament, and the Central Government's power to exempt or supersede the Authority.

Key IFSCA Regulations

IFSCA (Fund Management) Regulations, 2022FME categories, scheme types, minimum corpus/net-worth thresholds, sponsor commitment and custodian/valuation requirements for funds set up in GIFT City.IFSCA (Banking) Regulations, 2020IFSC Banking Unit (IBU) licensing conditions, permissible activities and prudential norms.IFSCA (Capital Market Intermediaries) Regulations, 2021Registration categories for broker-dealers, clearing members, investment bankers, portfolio managers and other intermediaries servicing the IFSC exchanges.IFSCA Insurance Framework (IIO / Reinsurance)Setting up an International Insurance Office or reinsurance branch in GIFT City, and the cross-border reinsurance-of-Indian-risk route.IFSCA Bullion Exchange Regulations (IIBX)India International Bullion Exchange structure, Qualified Jeweller gold-import route, and vaulting/depository requirements.IFSCA (FinTech Entity) Regulations, 2022Regulatory sandbox, FinTech and TechFin entity registration categories for innovation-stage financial-technology firms in GIFT City.IFSCA (Global In-House Centres) FrameworkConditions for a global financial-services group to set up a captive Global In-House Centre (GIC) in GIFT City for group support functions.

Practice masters

Entry Route Selection MasterChoosing the right IFSCA registration category — FME tier, IBU, capital-market intermediary, IIO, FinTech sandbox or GIC — before filing any application.Tax Interface Master — Section 10(4D), 80LA and GAARThe Income-tax Act concessions specific to IFSC units, and where the general anti-avoidance rule still applies.SEZ–IFSC Interface MasterHow the underlying Special Economic Zones Act, 2005 framework interacts with IFSCA registration for a GIFT City entity.Fund Structuring MasterTypical GIFT City fund structures — standalone scheme, umbrella structure, feeder-into-domestic-AIF, and LP-GP economics.Compliance Calendar MasterRecurring IFSCA filing and reporting obligations across the fund, banking, capital-market and insurance categories.Case-Law and Enforcement RegisterHow to track IFSCA enforcement orders, circulars and SAT appellate decisions relevant to an IFSC entity.