Treelife Resources

Category III Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) sit in a different tax universe from their Category I and II counterparts. Where Category I and II funds pass income through to investors under Section 115UB of the Income Tax Act, a Category III fund has no statutory pass-through. Tax is computed and…

Valuing a portfolio of unlisted securities, structured credit instruments, and early-stage equity positions has never been a uniform exercise. Before June 2023, fund managers in India had wide discretion over which methodology to apply, how often to apply it, and what to disclose. Two funds with identical portfolios could report…

Between January 2024 and the end of 2025, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) reshaped how Alternative Investment Funds operate through a dense series of circulars and amendments to the SEBI (Alternative Investment Funds) Regulations, 2012. The changes touched almost every part of a fund’s life: how units…

India’s alternative investment fund industry reached ₹15.74 lakh crore in cumulative commitments as of June 2026, and SEBI has responded by tightening what it expects from the two most accountable parties in every fund: the sponsor and the investment manager. These are not interchangeable roles. The sponsor sets up the…

The question an Indian family office principal actually faces is not “what is an AIF?” It is something sharper: my wealth manager is telling me I should put ₹10 crore into a Category II private equity fund. My CA is worried about the lock-in and says I can manage similar…

India is in the middle of a generational wealth transition that has no historical precedent in scale or speed. An estimated US$1.5 trillion is expected to change hands across Indian family businesses over the next decade, driven by a wave of business listings, mergers, PE-led exits, and promoter monetisation events…

Winding up a wholly owned subsidiary (WOS) in India involves more steps than winding up an ordinary domestic company. The reason is the foreign dimension: alongside the Companies Act 2013 exit route, the parent company triggers a set of Foreign Exchange Management Act 1999 (FEMA) reporting obligations, DTAA-governed withholding tax…

Setting up a wholly owned subsidiary in India has become the most preferred market-entry structure for foreign companies seeking long-term presence, operational control, and regulatory flexibility. A wholly owned subsidiary (WOS) is an Indian company in which 100% of the share capital is held by a foreign parent entity, incorporated…

A foreign parent company can close its Indian subsidiary through two routes: strike off under Section 248 of the Companies Act 2013 for defunct companies with no assets or liabilities, or voluntary liquidation under Section 59 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) 2016 for solvent companies that need a…

Copyright is simultaneously the most pervasive and most mismanaged intellectual property right in the Indian startup ecosystem. Every line of code a developer writes, every screen a designer produces, every course module a content team authors, all of it attracts copyright the moment it is fixed in a tangible form….

The Reserve Bank of India held its benchmark repo rate steady at 5.25% at the June 2026 Monetary Policy Committee meeting, unanimously, under Governor Sanjay Malhotra. This is the third meeting in a row that the rate has stayed put, following a run of 150 basis point cuts between February…

India’s Cabinet approved an amendment to Press Note 3 (PN3) of 2020 in March 2026, and it is generating significant attention across the investment and startup community. Headlines have rushed to label it a sweeping FDI liberalisation. The reality is considerably more targeted. This report breaks down exactly what changed,…

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) recently announced a major overhaul to the regulatory framework for Angel Funds under the Alternative Investment Funds (AIF) Regulations, 2012. This new framework, introduced in 2025, aims to enhance transparency, improve operational clarity, and encourage investor participation. In this article, we’ll explore…

In a significant move to invigorate India’s startup ecosystem, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), during its board meeting on June 19, 2025, approved substantial changes to the Angel Fund Framework. These revisions are designed to unlock more capital for early-stage companies while simultaneously ensuring enhanced investor suitability…

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has officially unveiled revised certification requirements for key investment personnel of Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) managers. This crucial update, detailed in SEBI circular F. No. SEBI/LAD-NRO/GN/2025/249 dated June 25, 2025, aims to enhance professional standards and ensure a higher level of expertise…