The International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) has granted an Investment Banking licence to Nexent Capital IFSC Private Limited, the GIFT City-based arm of US-based Nexent Capital Management. The registration, granted on July 31, 2026, under the IFSCA (Capital Market Intermediaries) Regulations, 2025, enables the firm to advise on and manage cross-border capital market transactions from GIFT City in Gandhinagar, Gujarat. The move further cements GIFT City’s position as a gateway for international capital markets looking to tap into India’s growing financial ecosystem.
What Is the IFSCA?
The International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) is a unified regulatory body established on April 27, 2020, under the International Financial Services Centres Authority Act, 2019. Headquartered at GIFT City, Gandhinagar in Gujarat, the IFSCA was created to develop and regulate financial products, financial services, and financial institutions operating within India’s International Financial Services Centres (IFSCs).
Before the IFSCA came into existence, four separate domestic regulators governed financial activities in the IFSC: the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), and the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA). The creation of the IFSCA consolidated these regulatory functions under a single umbrella, simplifying oversight and making it easier for global financial firms to operate from Indian soil.
The IFSCA’s mandate covers a wide range of financial verticals including banking, insurance, capital markets, pension, and fund management. Its goal is to create a world-class financial ecosystem that can compete with established global hubs such as London, Singapore, and Dubai. Under this mandate, the IFSCA regularly grants licences and registrations to entities seeking to conduct regulated financial activities from GIFT City.
What Happened: Nexent Capital’s Investment Banking Licence
Nexent Capital IFSC Private Limited, the GIFT City-based subsidiary of US-based Nexent Capital Management, has received formal registration from the IFSCA to operate as an Investment Banker within India’s IFSC. The registration was granted on July 31, 2026, under the IFSCA (Capital Market Intermediaries) Regulations, 2025, commonly referred to as the CMI Regulations.
The CMI Regulations, notified on April 11, 2025, provide the regulatory framework for the registration, regulation, and supervision of capital market intermediaries operating in India’s IFSCs. These regulations cover eleven categories of intermediaries including broker-dealers, clearing members, credit rating agencies, custodians, debenture trustees, depository participants, distributors, ESG rating and data product providers, investment advisers, investment bankers, and research entities.
An entity seeking registration as an Investment Banker must apply through the Single Window IT System (SWITS) portal of the IFSCA. The system integrates the application process across multiple regulatory requirements, including SEZ approvals and GST registration. Under the CMI Regulations, an Investment Banker is required to maintain a minimum net worth of USD 100,000 and the certificate of registration is granted on a perpetual basis, unless suspended or cancelled by the Authority.
Nexent Capital, with offices in San Francisco, California and GIFT City, Gujarat, specialises in investment banking, financial advisory, alternative asset management, and institutional equities. Abhimanyu Tyagi, Director of Nexent Capital IFSC Private Limited, stated that the registration enables the firm to support international companies seeking access to global capital through GIFT City while strengthening India’s position as a global financial centre.
What the Licence Allows Nexent Capital to Do
With the IFSCA registration in place, Nexent Capital is authorised to undertake a broad range of investment banking activities permitted under the CMI Regulations. These include:
- Managing initial public offerings (IPOs) for companies seeking to list on GIFT City’s stock exchanges
- Follow-on public offerings (FPOs) for already listed companies looking to raise additional capital
- SPAC listings, which involve special purpose acquisition companies raising funds through public markets
- Secondary listings for companies already listed on exchanges elsewhere
- Depository receipt issuances, enabling foreign companies to raise capital in India through instruments like American or Global depository receipts
- Debt capital market transactions, including issuing bonds and other debt instruments
- Capital market advisory mandates, offering strategic guidance on transactions and structuring
The firm has stated its pipeline of potential clients spans several high-growth sectors including artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, data centres, quantum computing, space technology, and energy, with a particular focus on companies from the United States and Europe.
Through its investment banking platform, Nexent Capital plans to provide end-to-end advisory services covering transaction structuring, listing readiness, transaction execution, and post-listing capital markets support. This positions the firm to facilitate cross-border capital flows, connecting international companies with global investor pools available through GIFT City’s exchanges.
GIFT City: India’s Global Financial Hub
The Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City) is India’s first and only operational International Financial Services Centre, located on the banks of the Sabarmati River in Gandhinagar, Gujarat. Conceptualised in 2008 by the then-Gujarat Chief Minister, the project was initially launched as a joint venture between the Gujarat Urban Development Co. Ltd and Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Ltd (IL&FS) with an initial outlay of approximately ₹78,000 crore.
Spread across 886 acres with a planned built-up area of 62 million square feet, GIFT City was declared a multi-service Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in 2015. The Union Budget 2015-16 identified it as a potential global financial centre, shifting the government’s focus from Mumbai’s Bandra-Kurla Complex to Gujarat as India’s financial hub.
GIFT City offers significant tax and regulatory advantages for entities operating within the IFSC. Companies registered in the IFSC enjoy 100% tax exemption for any 10 consecutive years out of the first 15 years. Transactions on stock exchanges in the IFSC are exempt from Securities Transaction Tax (STT), Commodity Transaction Tax (CTT), Dividend Distribution Tax (DDT), Long Term Capital Gains Tax (LTCG), and Short Term Capital Gains Tax (STCG). The IFSC unit is treated as a non-resident under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) regulations.
Today, GIFT City hosts over 20 IFSC Banking Units (IBUs) from major Indian and foreign banks including HDFC Bank, HSBC, and Barclays. It operates two international stock exchanges: the India International Exchange (India INX) and the NSE International Exchange (NSEIX), both of which allow trading in a wide range of global securities and derivatives.
The Bigger Picture: India’s Push for Cross-Border Capital Markets
The granting of the investment banking licence to Nexent Capital is part of a broader strategy by India to position GIFT City as a serious competitor to established global financial centres. The government’s vision, as articulated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is for GIFT City to become the price-setter for at least some of the largest traded instruments in the world within the next decade.
A key reform that supports this ambition is the Master Key framework, introduced by the IFSCA in February 2026. Under this mechanism, entities operating from GIFT City can obtain a single, unified registration to undertake multiple capital market activities, rather than applying separately for each one. The eligible intermediaries that can use the Master Key include broker-dealers, clearing members, credit rating agencies, custoditors, debenture trustees, depository participants, distributors, ESG rating and data product providers, investment advisers, investment bankers, and research entities. This simplifies the regulatory process and makes GIFT City more attractive to global financial firms.
The IFSCA also issued a comprehensive Master Circular for Investment Bankers in August 2025, consolidating all regulatory requirements under the CMI Regulations into a single reference document. This replaced the earlier circular dated December 3, 2021, and provides clear guidance on the registration process, permissible activities, governance standards, code of conduct, and compliance requirements for investment bankers in the IFSC.
For India, attracting firms like Nexent Capital to GIFT City serves a dual purpose. First, it brings financial services transactions currently being conducted from offshore centres like Dubai and Singapore back to Indian shores. Second, it creates a regulated, transparent platform for cross-border capital raising, which benefits both international companies seeking funding and Indian investors looking for global exposure. The IFSC framework, with its unified regulator, competitive tax regime, and ease of doing business, is designed to make this transition as seamless as possible.
Key Takeaways
- The International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA), established on April 27, 2020 under the IFSCA Act, 2019, is headquartered at GIFT City, Gandhinagar, Gujarat and serves as the unified regulator for India’s IFSC.
- The IFSCA granted an Investment Banking licence to Nexent Capital IFSC Private Limited on July 31, 2026, under the IFSCA (Capital Market Intermediaries) Regulations, 2025.
- The licence enables Nexent Capital to manage IPOs, FPOs, SPAC listings, secondary listings, depository receipt issuances, and debt capital market transactions from GIFT City.
- Under the CMI Regulations, an Investment Banker in the IFSC must maintain a minimum net worth of USD 100,000, and the registration is granted on a perpetual basis.
- The Master Key framework, introduced in February 2026, allows entities in GIFT City to obtain a single unified registration for multiple capital market activities through one application on the SWIT portal.
- GIFT City, spread across 886 acres, offers 100% tax exemption for any 10 consecutive years out of the first 15 years and is exempt from STT, CTT, DDT, LTCG, and STCG taxes.
