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What are the most significant cases and/or transactions that your legal team has been involved with in the last two years?

The India legal team deals with a wide array of transactions undertaken by the business in India, whilst managing pressing legal, business and reputational issues involved in deal execution. In particular, the bank’s Asia Pacific Financing Group (AFG) and Asia Pacific Markets businesses have a substantive and growing footprint in India. These businesses undertake multiple complex structured financing transactions each year which involve a plethora of legal and regulatory considerations, and are supported by the India legal team. Further, the team also handles day-to-day legal queries, as well as provides legal support related to wealth management transactions (including the introduction of new products), litigations and other general corporate matters as related to Credit Suisse in India. Key transactions and projects supported by the India legal team in the last two years include the following:

• INR 1,000 crores financing to an Indian listed company against a pledge of unlisted lease rental discounted bonds. The transaction involved reviewing and conducting legal diligence of the underlying loans for the lease rental discounted bonds.
• INR 1,500 crores financing to an Indian unlisted public non-banking financial company (NBFC). The financing was secured by charges over the identified ESOP loans portfolio of the issuer.
• Syndicated financing to the promoters of a healthcare company in India for the refinancing of its existing indebtedness. Credit Suisse participated to the extent of INR 263 crore.
• A heavily structured up to US$275m take private of a listed company. The transaction was split into multiple financings and involved complex structuring to overcome various regulatory and legal hurdles including single borrower limits and financial assistance. The structure was duplicated for a couple of other delisting financings with some modifications.
• Structuring and subscription of pass through certificates issued by a trust company against a pool of identified loan portfolios of an Indian NBFC.
• INR 1,000 crores secured bridge financing to a promoter of an Indian listed company backed by share pledge over certain listed Indian shares.
• India legal played a significant role in 2017-18 in providing strategic legal support to set up a new site in Pune for one of the Credit Suisse legal entities. The key achievements demonstrated by the legal team were in areas of executing definitive lease deeds, proactively assisting our offshore legal colleagues in setting up complex contractual structures, both intra-group and with third party vendor affiliates, and advising on local legal and regulatory submissions, in an optimal, time efficient manner.

What recent political, economic or regulatory changes in India have impacted your company and the team the most? Personal Data Protection Bill

The Srikrishna Committee published a white paper in December 2017 on the proposed data protection framework (Personal Data Protection Bill, 2018) and invited comments from the public. The draft Bill borrows heavily from the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). While businesses should be able to replicate many processes that have already been implemented to comply with GDPR, the draft Bill is not identical and contains a number of innovations. Our initial thoughts on the draft Bill are that while the draft Bill is the primary statute, much of the details on compliance will be in the rules, regulations, codes of practice and directions issued under the draft Bill. Additional requirements may also be prescribed in sectoral laws and these should also be considered while framing a strategy on the processing of personal data. It will take time for the framework to fully develop and there is likely to be some ambiguity on the obligations, at least initially.

What will be the main focus for the company in the next 12 months and how does the team intend to assist with this?

Credit Suisse’s focus is to expand its India presence and platform in the coming year through a number of strategic initiatives including the build out of certain business lines and expanding footprint in key areas. The India legal team continues to work with business teams on successful implementation.

Can you sum up the team culture/ethos? Giving some information afterwards about how this is developed.

In an increasingly competitive and regulated industry, and with the growing influence of local and regional financial institutions, the legal team must continue to keep abreast of evolving market practices and advise internal business teams on both a strategic and holistic basis, while exercising the right level of challenge and control, so that the firm continues to operate in line with regulatory expectations and in compliance with laws and regulations. The bank’s global legal department’s vision is to be a best in class legal function. The India legal team’s work ethos is aligned to the vision of the department. We deliver strategic solutions-oriented advice, mitigate risk and act as guardians of the franchise, while emphasising meritocracy, accountability and collaboration. With respect to the strategy of hiring and retaining legal talent in the India legal team, members of the team are encouraged to work on multiple types of transactions or products across jurisdictions. Accordingly, all members of the team cover and advise on the firm’s transactions involving various jurisdictions though the main coverage continues to be India. We believe that by having the team structured in this way, it promotes not only the versatility, but also the career development of our team members as experienced and value-adding lawyers. The team comprises individuals whose diverse mix of backgrounds and experiences contribute to the overall expertise and utility of the team. This diversity provides us with a better understanding of business needs, cultural aspects and markets. Our team’s inclusive approach also enables each of our team members to achieve their potential. The legal team is well recognised for its contribution to the sustainability, strength and long-term success of Credit Suisse’s franchise in India. Considering the volume and complexity of the business and transactions that we cover, we believe that we are a lean, efficient and highly skilled team of lawyers.