FEMA, RBI & Corporate
FEMA is India's law on money crossing its border. This work is the RBI filings it requires, and the company law filings beside them.
The order matters, and reversing it is the most common outbound mistake. (read where we wrote it)
Mainly for
30 daysTo report shares issued to a foreign investor to RBI
When does money crossing the border need a form?
Each time it crosses, and once a year after that. Most gaps are a filing nobody knew a round, a transfer or an investment abroad had started.
The bigger the circle, the more often the filing at that stop is missed.
The round
Shares issued to a foreign investor within 60 days of the money arriving, then FC-GPR within 30 days of allotment.
A share transfer
FC-TRS within 60 days when shares move between a resident and a non-resident.
Money going abroad
Form FC and a unique identification number before the first remittance, never after. Guarantees count against the limit too.
The yearly returns
The FLA return to RBI by 15 July, and an annual performance report by 31 December for each investment abroad.
The company's own filings
The accounts and the annual return with the Registrar after the AGM, which falls by 30 September.
A flip or a merger
Moving the parent abroad or back is a sale, with filings on both legs. We check it before anything is signed.
Which services work beside the FEMA filings?
Tax & Transfer Pricing prices the dealings these filings report. Company Secretarial keeps the registers they draw on, and Deal Structuring shapes a flip or a merger.
Read before the next RBI deadline
From CS Manavi Arora, Lead - Company Secretarial, Compliance & Fundraise Advisory
Founders often do this backwards: incorporate abroad, fund it from wherever is convenient, and ask about compliance afterwards. Fixing that is possible, but it’s a regularisation exercise, with a fee and an explanation.
If you’ve missed previous years, there’s a late submission fee route to regularise. Do it before a diligence, not during one.
Company law needs a registered valuer's report, and FEMA needs its own fair-value certificate if the investor is foreign. Getting the wrong one means starting over.
CS Manavi Arora, in From term sheet to money in the bank
How does money stay legal both ways?
The route settled before money moves, every share issue reported on time, the yearly returns, and a check before any flip.
Where next in FEMA, RBI & Corporate?
FEMA, RBI & Corporate pages
- How we workFilings that keep pace with the money
We set the route before any money moves, then file each RBI form as the event happens. The yearly returns go on a calendar, and a flip is checked before anyone signs.
- InsightsInsights on FEMA and RBI filings
Our team writes about the filings founders find out about too late, and why the order of the paperwork matters.
- Was every share issue reported to RBI?
- Is our annual performance report filed?
- What would a flip need from RBI?