Sanctions and trade-compliance alignment for foreign companies operating in India.
A foreign company operating in India sits at the intersection of two sanctions worlds. It must comply with the sanctions India itself implements, principally UN-mandated measures and country-specific trade restrictions, and it must simultaneously honour the OFAC, EU, and UK sanctions that bind its parent and its banking relationships. These regimes do not always align, and an India transaction that is lawful under Indian law can still breach a parent-level sanctions obligation or trigger a correspondent-bank refusal.
We build a single compliance framework that satisfies both layers, screen counterparties and ultimate beneficial owners against the relevant lists, and advise on payment routing where banks apply conservative de-risking. Where a transaction touches a sanctioned nexus, we assess licensing, wind-down, and exit options so the India operation does not expose the global group.
Designing a sanctions and trade-compliance framework that satisfies both Indian obligations and the parent OFAC, EU, and UK requirements.
Implementing sanctions, denied-party, and ultimate-beneficial-owner screening across customers, suppliers, and investors.
Advising on cross-border payment routing and correspondent-bank de-risking so legitimate transactions are not frozen or returned.
Aligning import and export activity with FTDR Act restrictions and country-specific trade controls.
Assessing specific deals, counterparties, or jurisdictions for sanctions nexus before the group commits.
Managing a positive screening match or a changed sanctions designation, including licensing, freezing, and compliant wind-down.
OFAC primary sanctions generally reach US persons and, for certain programmes, entities owned or controlled by them. An Indian subsidiary of a US parent must therefore manage both Indian law and the parent US obligations, which is why a dual-regime framework is essential.
Because the banks that clear the group payments, the parent, and the auditors all do. A transaction lawful in India can still be blocked by a correspondent bank or breach a parent-level control, so the global exposure has to be managed even where Indian law is silent.
India implements UN Security Council sanctions through domestic law and maintains its own trade restrictions on specified countries and goods. These are the binding Indian obligations, layered under the broader group-level regimes.
No. No engagement is treated as accepted until conflicts, scope and terms are confirmed in writing. An initial discussion is confidential and is used only to understand the matter and assess fit.
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