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Smruti Shah

Partner in the General Corporate Practice at the Mumbai office of  Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas. Smruti specialises in foreign investments into India, public and private mergers & acquisitions, joint venture and the SEBI Takeover Regulations. She has advised top tier Indian as well as foreign companies, private equity players and the promoters and understands the deal dynamics from the investor’s and the target’s perspective. She is core member of the firm’s Germany Desk. Smruti is also a qualified Company Secretary. She can be reached at smruti.shah@cyrilshroff.com

Changing Face of Regulators

Summary: There is an unmistakable change in India’s regulatory architecture. Traditional heavyweight institutional regulators are gradually introducing measures to move away from a rigid enforcement system to a more trust-based framework. Enforcement actions of two key regulators – the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and the Reserve bank of India (RBI) appear to be softening. The finance ministry’s move towards deregulation was also evident in Budget 2025, where the formation of a committee to overhaul non-financial sector regulations was announced. The intention behind this announcement was to shed regulatory load and nurture an environment where enterprises can thrive.  Simultaneously, newer watchdogs and their enforcement instincts are emerging as powerful force. They are turning out to be more assertive, which thwarts the effort to balance systemic resilience with enterprise growth.Continue Reading Changing Face of Regulators

ESG and M&A

In recent years, investors and customers alike have been gung-ho about ESG, so much so that it has found its way into day-to-day commercial lingo. The term ESG stands for Environmental, Social and Governance and refers to three key factors when measuring sustainability and the ethical impact of an investment in a business or company.[1]Continue Reading Interplay between ESG and M&A transactions: Key factors to consider

RECLASSIFICATION OF PROMOTERS BY SEBI

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) came out with its consultative paper on “promoter reclassification/ promoter group entities and disclosure of the promoter group entities in the shareholding pattern”[1] to seek public comments on November 23, 2020.

The topic of promoter reclassification has been a talking point since 2015, wherein the power to reclassify promoters laid in the hands of the company, rather than the promoter. Therefore, it was observed by SEBI that the process provided too wide a net to alter the tag of a “promoter”. Hence, in 2018, SEBI revamped the procedure and came out with the now inserted Regulation 31A of Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements Regulations, 2015.
Continue Reading RECLASSIFICATION OF PROMOTERS BY SEBI