Head 5 / 20 · IFSCA (CMI) Regulations 2025 · Live
Capital Market Intermediaries at GIFT IFSC
Eleven registrable categories - broker-dealer, clearing member, custodian, investment banker, investment adviser, research entity, distributor, debenture trustee, credit rating agency, ESG ratings, depository participant. Net-worth USD 25,000 to USD 1.5 million depending on activity; Master-Key Unified Registration for multi-category applicants since 11 April 2025.
Which of the CMI categories fit, and with what conditions?
Brokers, clearing members, custodians, depository participants, investment advisers, distributors and other intermediaries register with IFSCA under the IFSCA (Capital Market Intermediaries) Regulations, 2025.
Capital Market Intermediaries - The Practitioner's Booklet
A treatise-grade working reference on the licensing, capital, conduct-of-business and tax framework for Capital Market Intermediaries at GIFT IFSC - every conclusion anchored in verbatim statutory and regulatory text.
The case for Capital Market Intermediaries - before the rulebook.
GIFT IFSC competes head-on with Singapore, Dubai and Mauritius - on tax, on currency, and on access to India. Here is what actually moves the decision, before the regulatory detail below.
A 20-year tax holiday
100% deduction on business income for any 20 consecutive years in a 25-year block under Section 147 of the Income-tax Act 2025 (Finance Act 2026), then a 15% concessional rate. MAT capped at 9%.
US-dollar, offshore by law
An IFSC unit is treated as a person resident outside India under FEMA - raise, hold and transact in USD / EUR / GBP, with full foreign-currency freedom and no rupee-conversion drag.
100% foreign & NRI capital
Foreign and NRI investors can hold up to 100% - without the aggregate ownership caps that constrain comparable onshore vehicles.
An on-ramp to India
Unlike a purely offshore hub, GIFT IFSC sits on Indian soil and aligns with national policy - an offshore base that is also a door into one of the world's largest growth markets.
Zero STT, CTT & stamp duty
IFSC-exchange transactions are free of Securities and Commodity Transaction Tax and stamp duty; services rendered by IFSC units are zero-rated for GST.
One regulator, India's rule of law
A single unified regulator (IFSCA) under the IFSCA Act 2019, an independent judiciary, and a treaty-anchored legal order - certainty, not just headline rates.
The opportunity is real, but every benefit carries a condition - and that is where counsel at the threshold earns its place.
The 2025 framework - what changed
CMI Net-Worth Calculator
Pick the activities; the tool applies Schedule I and the highest-of multi-category rule.
Schedule I, IFSCA (CMI) Regulations 2025 (notified 11 Apr 2025). Indicative; confirm with the current Master Circular and Fee Circular.
Related reading
- Booklet XII - Capital Market Intermediaries at GIFT IFSC (PDF, May 2026) · Full Firm handbook on the 2025 framework.
- Fund Management Entity (FME) · Portfolio Manager registration migrated here w.e.f. 19 May 2022.
- Resources page · IFSCA primary sources by head.