Nigel Sprunt:

So welcome to you both. We're here to talk about India. A thriving, dynamic economy throws up lots of different issues. Legal issues. So, first of all, I suppose why Withers for India?

Ruby Dalal:

Withers has been acting for Indian clients for generations. So we have a very deep cultural understanding and extensive experience in the market.

Nigel Sprunt:

Okay. And the firm is known for dealing with successful people and families. I'm guessing that's true of the sort of clients that we are representing, in India and across the world.

Ruby Dalal:

Absolutely. A family sits at the heart of most Indian businesses, and so we're perfectly positioned to be able to advise those clients, both in their personal need and their business needs, to make sure the two are aligned.

Nigel Sprunt:

Okay. Claire, we do a lot of things, for our clients. Could you sort of give us a flavor of the sort of things that we do for them?

Claire Harris:

So from a tax and structuring perspective, we are acting for families, promoters of businesses, family offices in relation to how should they hold their assets globally. With a particular eye on the kind of the tax implications of the different jurisdictions where people are based or where they have assets. And we're looking at estate planning and succession planning in terms of how to pass those assets on to the next generation, but also on the corporate side, corporate structuring, business structuring and fund structuring.

Nigel Sprunt:

Yeah, it's pretty comprehensive. I suppose on a daily basis, what's the sort of things that both of you are actually dealing with?

Claire Harris:

Well, it sounds a little bit geeky, but I advise quite a bit in terms of the double tax treaties between the UK and India. Trying to make sure that at the very least, people are not double taxed in relation to income or, on their assets more generally. I also do quite a bit of work in terms of structuring property purchases in the UK.< So how can people buy property in the UK in the most tax efficient way possible, given that the funds are coming from outside of the UK, often.

Ruby Dalal:

This is an area that we work very closely together. So I help a lot of our NRI clients in terms of their commercial real estate investments and the management and acquisition of those investments.

Nigel Sprunt:

Yeah, I mean, it's a pretty comprehensive list. Are there other areas that we should be talking about?

Ruby Dalal:

Absolutely, absolutely. Our wider India group help our Indian clients across all services, whether it be acquiring a second home overseas, their immigration requirements, cross-border M&A, inbound and outbound investment and of course, litigation, arbitration. It's a very wide list.

Nigel Sprunt:

Okay. Well, what I would say is, if I was watching the video, I'd be like, well, how do you tailor that for the needs of our Indian clients? Can you help us with that?

Claire Harris:

Yeah, absolutely. What I would say is that all of the members of our India group have got a really good understanding of the legal, the cultural, the tax background in terms of India and understanding how the local laws will impact the type of advice that we're giving, particularly from an Indian perspective, there are regulatory constraints from India, in particular, that impact the way that we give our advice. And we're working really frequently with local lawyers in order to structure the best outcome for our clients. Also, all of our clients are so globally mobile these days. It really helps to be able to really provide that kind of joined up approach across our regions.

Nigel Sprunt:

And you talk about that globally mobile, and one of the things that I think we can offer is having people on the ground to help. I mean, we are a truly global Indian team. Is that not right?

Ruby Dalal:

Absolutely. Our India team spans across all of our international offices from US, Europe to APAC. We are regularly traveling out to India, strengthening our network with our local partners and also of course, meeting the clients.

Nigel Sprunt:

Yeah. Well, I'm very jealous that you two get out to India so often. It just remains for me to thank you both for giving us a flavour, just a flavour, but a flavour of the sort of stuff that we do for our Indian clients, both in India and around the world. Thank you.

Claire Harris:

Thanks very much.