IFSCA mandates FMEs to maintain a website or webpage

On 26 August 2026, the International Finance Services Centres Authority (‘IFSCA’) issued a circular (‘Circular’) imposing an obligation on Authorised FMEs, registered FMEs (Non-Retail) and Registered FMEs (Retail) to maintain a website or a webpage dedicated to their fund management activities in the IFSC. An Authorised FME and a registered FME (Non-Retail) can maintain either of the following:

(i)                 an independent official website; or

(ii)               a dedicated webpage hosted on the website of its parent entity, holding company or group entity.

A Registered FME (Retail) is required to maintain an independent official website dedicated to its fund management activities in the IFSC. The Circular states that the FME’s website or webpage should mandatorily provide the following information:

·         A brief profile of the FME, including its name, category of registration and its IFSCA registration number;

·         The FME’s registered office address in the IFSC, its correspondence, address, telephone number, and email address;

·         Details of the schemes or funds managed from the IFSC;

·         The names and IFSCA registration number of schemes or funds managed by the FME on behalf of any person or investment manager not based in the IFSC;

·         If the FME undertakes portfolio management services or any other activity permissible under the FM Regulations, 2025, details of such activity;

·         Name and contact details of the Custodian, Trustee, Fund Administrator and Statutory Auditor for the FME’s IFSC operations;

·         The FME’s investor grievance redressal mechanism, contact details of the FME’s Grievance Redressal Officer, the escalation matrix, and the timelines for redressal. The status of investor complaints received, disposed of and pending should also be disclosed on the website/webpage and updated on a quarterly basis;

·         Name, designation and contact details (including e-mail address and telephone number) of the Principal Officer, the Compliance Officer and such Other Key Managerial Personnel responsible for IFSC operations, wherever applicable;

·         All disclosures as required under the FM Regulations, 2025, circulars, guidelines or directions issued by the IFSC;

·         Details of any material regulatory or enforcement action taken against the FME or its key managerial personnel in relation to the FME’s operations in IFSC during the preceding three years, updated periodically to reflect the current status of such proceedings;

·         A statement to the effect that registration with IFSCA does not imply approval or endorsement by IFSCA of the FME, of any scheme, or of the financial soundness or performance of the FME or any scheme of the FME.

The Circular requires that the FME’s website or webpage should be publicly accessible without any requirement of registration, subscription, or login, in respect of the information that is mandatorily required to be displayed. In case of a dedicated webpage hosted on the website of the FME’s parent entity, holding company or group entity, the webpage should be accessible through a conspicuously identifiable link placed on the home page of the host website.

On 3 February 2026, IFSCA had issued a circular similar to the Circular requiring Finance Companies and Finance Units to have a website/ webpage. It remains to be seen if IFSCA will impose a similar requirement (to maintain a website/ webpage) on other categories entities regulated by it, such as capital market intermediaries and international banking units (IBUs).

As a general rule, regulators across the world (such as the SEC in the USA or the FCA in the UK or the MAS in Singapore of the DFSA in Dubai) do not mandate fund managers to maintain a designated website. The usual practice is to maintain a public register of funds and/or their managers which makes available to the public relevant information pertaining to the fund or fund manager. In fact, the approach is for regulators to regulate the information or statements that is published on a fund or fund manager’s website, if the fund or fund manager chooses to have a website or website in the first place.

SEBI does not require AIFs registered with SEBI or the investment managers of such AIFs, to maintain a designated website. Mandatory disclosures and the Investor Charter are required to be provided to investors through the PPM. Any new disclosure is usually required to be made either by updating the PPM and/or through an email communication to existing investors.

It is evident that IFSCA issued the circular in the interests of transparency and to make it easier for investors to obtain information pertaining to FMEs and schemes managed by FMEs before making investment decisions. However, for FMEs operating in GIFT-IFSC, a new row has been added to their compliance checklists.

[The author is a Partner in Corporate and M&A practice at Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan Attorneys, Mumbai]