The International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFCSA) on April 18, 2023, issued a circular regarding the Utilisation of office space, manpower, or both by entities undertaking aircraft leasing activity in the IFSCA
This has a reference to Notification No. G.S.R. 125 (E) dated February 23, 2023, related to the amendment to the Special Economic Zones Rules, 2006. where Rule 21B was inserted which lays down the provisions for the 'Units dealing with aircraft leasing activities'.
The following guidelines have been issued for the purpose of seeking approval for the utilization of office space or manpower or both by an IFSC Unit undertaking aircraft leasing activity in the IFSC namely: -
• The applicant entity shall be registered with the IFSC as an ‘Aircraft Lessor’, in terms of the ‘Framework for Aircraft Lease’.
• The applicant entity shall provide a declaration as to whether it has commenced the permitted activities as per the Certificate of Registration or the date by which it intends to undertake the permitted activities.
• The applicant entity shall provide a Board Resolution for the following:
(a) seeking approval to undertake the permitted activity of carrying out investment activity without any customer interface i.e. limited to its group entities; as per the permitted non-core activity specified in the regulation 5(1)(iii)(m) of IFSCA (Finance Company) Regulations, 2021, if applicable.
(b) stating its relationship with the proposed entity; the relationship shall fall within the definition of group entity.
(c) stating that it intends to share the resource (please specify details) with the proposed entity.
• The applicant entity shall provide a declaration on behalf of the proposed entity confirming that its line of business would be within the scope of the permissible activities as defined under the ‘Framework for Aircraft Lease’ dated May 18, 2022.
• The application shall be made before the incorporation of the proposed group entity in the IFSC in the format as specified in Annexure A and shall be accompanied by a one-time fee of USD 2500 which covers fees for both prior approvals for extending the scope of existing activities of the applicant entity and approval for sharing of resources).
• The proposed entity shall be incorporated and its application for registration as an aircraft lessor shall be received by the Authority within a period of six months from the date of receipt of approval, for which the approval shall remain valid. The registration application for the proposed entity shall be made to the Authority by filling out the simplified application form available on the IFSCA website.
• The applicant entity, wherever applicable, shall be granted a revised Certificate of Registration for undertaking permissible activity as specified in regulation 5(1)(iii)(m) of IFSCA (Finance Company) Regulations, 2022
This Circular is available on the website of the Authority at www.ifsca.gov.in circular along with the updated ‘Framework on Aircraft Lease’
[Circular No. F. No. 535/IFSCA/FC/ALF/2023-24/02]
