Head 19 / 20 · IFSCA (CMI) Regs 2025 + CRA Master Circular 5 Aug 2025 · Live
Credit Rating Agencies at GIFT IFSC
USD 200,000 net-worth threshold (Schedule I Item 3). Perpetual registration via SWIT. Global-scale ratings on instruments and sovereigns in any jurisdiction, foreign or local currency, public or private. IOSCO-aligned Code of Conduct. RBI ECAI bridge for mainland Indian risk-weighting. ESG ratings via separate ERDPP licence. Live entrant: CareEdge Global IFSC Ltd (39-country sovereign ratings, October 2024).
Credit Rating Agencies — The Practitioner's Booklet
A treatise-grade working reference on the licensing, capital, conduct-of-business and tax framework for Credit Rating Agencies at GIFT IFSC — every conclusion anchored in verbatim statutory and regulatory text.
The case for Credit Rating Agencies — 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 framework — at a glance
CRA Authorisation & Coverage Tool
Map CRA type, rating products, issuer location, funding model and sanctioned-jurisdiction exposure to the applicable IFSCA pathway, conflict-of-interest architecture, and EU Article 5j / OFAC sanctions warnings.
IFSCA (CMI) Regulations 2025; IFSCA Master Circular for Credit Rating Agencies in the IFSC dated 5 August 2025 (superseding the Circular of 1 October 2024). Indicative only — not legal advice.
Related reading
- Booklet XXIV — Credit Rating Agencies at GIFT IFSC (PDF, May 2026) · Full Firm handbook.
- Capital Market Intermediaries (Booklet XII) · CRA is one of 11 CMI categories under the IFSCA (CMI) Regulations 2025; ESG Ratings & Data Products Provider sits alongside as a separate category.
- Market Infrastructure Institutions (Booklet XIX) · IFSC stock exchanges (NSE IFSC / India INX) carry IFSC-rated bonds and structured-finance instruments.
- Resources page · IFSCA CMI Regulations 2025; IFSCA CRA Master Circular 5 Aug 2025; IOSCO 2015 Code; EU Article 5j; SEC Office of Credit Ratings.