Regulatory frameworks
Start from the decision, not the statute.
When fraud, bribery or a regulator lands on the agenda, several laws apply at once and their deadlines start running on different triggers. These guides take the questions boards, CFOs and general counsel actually face and set out who must do what, by when, and where the regimes pull in different directions.
Ten questions, four themes
Find the question you are facing
Each guide gives a short answer, the laws in play, a step-by-step framework, who must do what and by when, how the regimes interact, red flags, a checklist, common misreadings and takeaways, and the date the law is stated at.
Theme 01
Detecting and reporting fraud
What auditors, boards and audit committees must do once a concern surfaces, and how people who raise it are protected.
Fraud reporting and auditor obligations
An auditor suspects fraud: who must report what, to whom, and by when?
How section 143(12), Rule 13, CARO 2020, the audit committee and SEBI’s disclosure rules fit together once an auditor suspects fraud, with every deadline in one table.
Whistleblower protection and vigil mechanisms
A whistleblower has come forward: what protections and duties now apply?
What the Companies Act, SEBI LODR and SEBI’s insider-trading informant rules require once a concern is raised, and how US, UK and EU regimes add to the picture.
Theme 02
Bribery and financial crime
Corporate liability for bribes paid by others, and knowing who really stands behind a counterparty.
Corporate liability for bribery
Could the company be prosecuted for a bribe paid by someone else, and what protects it?
How section 9 of the Prevention of Corruption Act makes a company answer for bribes paid by its agents, and where the FCPA and UK Bribery Act add to the exposure.
Beneficial ownership and money-laundering risk
Who really stands behind our counterparty, and what are we obliged to do about it?
How the PMLA, the significant beneficial owner rules and FATF standards fit together, and what a company should do when the owner behind a counterparty is unclear.
Theme 03
Lenders, insolvency and markets
Fraud classification by banks, avoidance transactions in insolvency, and misuse of price-sensitive information.
Bank fraud classification and natural justice
Our account has been red-flagged: what must the bank do before it declares fraud, and what should we do?
How RBI’s fraud risk management directions, the Supreme Court’s natural-justice rulings and a forensic audit shape the path from red flag to fraud classification.
Avoidance transactions and fraudulent trading in insolvency
In a CIRP, which past transactions can be unwound, who must find them, and by when?
How the IBC’s avoidance and fraudulent-trading provisions, as amended in 2026, and CIRP Regulation 35A decide which transactions are examined, by whom and on what timetable.
Insider trading and market abuse inside the company
Price-sensitive information may have leaked or been traded on: what must a listed company do?
What SEBI’s insider trading and fraudulent trade practices regulations require when unpublished price-sensitive information leaks, and how to run the inquiry.
Theme 04
Investigations, data and evidence
Collecting evidence lawfully, making it stand up in court, and running a matter across borders.
Personal data in investigations
Can we search an employee’s laptop, email and phone, and what does the DPDP Act change?
How the DPDP Act 2023, the DPDP Rules 2025 and the IT Act shape evidence collection and employee monitoring, and why the timetable matters until May 2027.
Criminal complaints and electronic evidence
When should the company go to the police, and how do we make our evidence stand up in court?
How the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam shape a company’s fraud complaint, and what section 63 demands of electronic evidence.
Cross-border investigations
The matter spans India and other countries: whose rules govern the investigation, the data and the disclosures?
How Indian and foreign laws overlap when an investigation crosses borders: data transfers, legal privilege, foreign anti-bribery regimes, parallel agencies and evidence from abroad.
Confidential consultation
A live matter rarely fits one guide. Talk it through.
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