Eligibility Criteria

4. For the purpose of the grant of certificate to an applicant, the Board shall consider the following conditions for eligibility, namely, —

(a) the memorandum of association in case of a company; or the Trust Deed in case of a Trust; or the Partnership deed in case of a limited liability partnership permits it to carry on the activity of an Alternative Investment Fund;

(b) the applicant is prohibited by its memorandum and articles of association or trust deed or partnership deed from making an invitation to the public to subscribe to its securities;

(c) in case the applicant is a Trust, the instrument of trust is in the form of a deed and has been duly registered under the provisions of the Registration Act, 1908;

(d) in case the applicant is a limited liability partnership, the partnership is duly incorporated and the partnership deed has been duly filed with the Registrar under the provisions of the Limited Liability Partnership Act, 2008;

(e) in case the applicant is a body corporate, it is set up or established under the laws of the Central or State Legislature and is permitted to carry on the activities of an Alternative Investment Fund;

(f) the applicant, Sponsor and Manager are fit and proper persons based on the criteria specified in Schedule II of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Intermediaries) Regulations, 2008;

(g) [The key investment team of the Manager of Alternative Investment Fund has (i) [at least one key personnel with relevant certification as may be specified by the Board from time to time][:] [Provided that the provisions of this sub-clause shall not apply to Accredited Investors only fund; and]

(ii) at least one key personnel with professional qualification in finance, accountancy, business management, commerce, economics, capital market or banking from a university or an institution recognized by the Central Government or any State Government or a foreign university, or a CFA charter from the CFA institute or any other qualification as may be specified by the Board:

Provided that the requirements[***] as specified in regulation 4(g)(i) and 4(g)(ii) may also be fulfilled by the same key personnel.] [Provided further that a fresh certification shall be obtained before expiry of the validity of the existing certification to ensure continuity in compliance with the certification requirement.]

(h) the Manager or Sponsor has the necessary infrastructure and manpower to effectively discharge its activities;

(i) the applicant has clearly described at the time of registration the investment objective, the targeted investors, proposed corpus, investment style or strategy and proposed tenure of the fund or scheme;

(j) whether the applicant or any entity established by the Sponsor or Manager has earlier been refused registration by the Board.