Photo of Arjun Goswami

Arjun Goswami

Subscribe to Arjun Goswami's Posts

Director and head of the Public Policy Practice at the Delhi - NCR office of Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas. He has a rich experience in advising public sector and private sector clients on policy issues related to ESG, Infrastructure, Technology and Finance. He can be reached at arjun.goswami@cyrilshroff.com.

Financial institutions have invested heavily into artificial intelligence (“AI”) and machine learning (“ML”) techniques globally, and in India, over the past decade. There are estimates that AI technologies could potentially contribute towards US$ 1 trillion in additional value for the global banking sector, and a World Economic Forum survey indicated that seventy seven per cent of all respondents (151 fintechs and financial institutions from thirty three countries) anticipated AI to possess a high or a very high overall importance in their businesses in the near future. Tangible use-cases in the financial sector have resultantly sprung, benefitting both customers and investors through robo advisors, portfolio optimisation, and algorithmic trading bots. Financial institutions on their part have benefitted greatly through chat bots handling consumer interactions and grievances, identity verification (including video KYC), predictive analytics to mitigate and minimise frauds, etc.Continue Reading FIG Paper (No. 19 – Series 1)- AI/ ML, ChatGPT: Legal and regulatory considerations for financial service use-cases

RBI guidance on loading of PPIs through credit lines

On June 20, 2022, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) clarified to authorised non-bank prepaid payment instrument (PPI) issuers that PPIs may not be loaded from credit lines, and any such practice should be stopped immediately.Continue Reading FIG Paper (No. 13) – RBI guidance on loading of PPIs through credit lines

Fintech Hubs in IFSC

The International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) had notified its Fintech Incentive Scheme on February 2, 2022 (Scheme), setting up a framework to provide six grants to eligible applicants. The six grants, thematically, are for ESG financing (Green FinTech Grant), meant to provide early-stage capital for scaling up (FinTech Start-up Grant, Proof-of-Concept Grant, Sandbox Grant, Listing Support Grant), and aimed at supporting third-party incubation (Accelerator Grant), with the common thread among all being an intent to facilitate market access.Continue Reading Policy support for fintech hubs in IFSCs

GIFT City

Introduction

 In the 2022-23 Union Budget announcements on February 1, 2022 (“Budget”), the Finance Minister introduced a proposal to allow the entry of world-class foreign universities and institutions in Gujarat International Financial Tec-City IFSC (“GIFT IFSC”), to offer courses in subjects pertaining to financial management, fintech, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, to facilitate the availability of skilled human capital for financial services and technology[1]. The announcement is seen as a progressive step, giving further impetus to promoting GIFT IFSC as the preferred International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) globally.Continue Reading GIFT City Opens Doors for Entry of Foreign Universities in India

An Introduction of ESG Disclosures in Indian Regulatory Space

Introduction

In the previous part, we first discussed the relevance of ESG disclosures for stakeholders involved in business processes, and then reflected upon the existing regulatory space for such disclosures along with the Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting (“BRSR”) framework, recently introduced by Securities Exchange Board of India (“SEBI”). Taking forward the discussion, this part will analyse the BRSR framework and suggest ways in which it could be further improved.Continue Reading An Introduction of ESG Disclosures in Indian Regulatory Space – Part 2

An Introduction of ESG Disclosures in Indian Regulatory Space

Introduction

The 2021 conference of parties (CoP26) on climate change was recently held in Glasgow, with the global community negotiating ways to manage climate change and mitigate its impact while ensuring that no adverse effect is felt on employment, food security, and living standards of the masses. Addressing climate change is one the most urgent tasks before us, particularly for India, due to rising threats from drastic physical events, such as floods, droughts, hurricanes, rising temperatures, and other climate change related events. It has become necessary to take immediate and consequential steps towards climate change adaption and mitigation; otherwise, the global community is set to lose trillions of dollars and millions of jobs.Continue Reading An Introduction of ESG Disclosures in Indian Regulatory Space – Part 1

Charging Up the EV Sector through Policy Reform

Government of India approach

As the world moves towards clean and eco-friendly mobility fuel alternatives, the Government of India (“GOI”) is playing its part by framing environmental-friendly policies & regulations and encouraging the use of electric vehicles (“EVs”) in the country. The National Electric Mobility Mission Plan, 2020 had launched the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles (“FAME Policy / Scheme”) in the year 2015. The FAME Policy was launched in two phases. FAME – I provided direct subsidies and grants for specific projects along with financial support for R&D, technology enhancement and public charging infrastructure. FAME-II, introduced in 2019 with a budgetary outlay of INR 10,000 crore, envisioned driving large-scale adoption of EVs, EV-related infrastructure and EV ecosystem development. Despite these efforts the EV market penetration currently stands at merely 3% of India’s total vehicle sales.[1]Continue Reading Charging Up the EV Sector through Policy Reform