ONE TRANSACTION, MULTIPLE REGULATORS: THE PROBLEM OF REGULATORY OVERLAP IN INIDAN M&A

Indian M&A transactions increasingly operate across multiple regulatory frameworks which involves the Competition Commission of India (“CCI”), Securities and Exchange Board of India (“SEBI”), Reserve Bank of India (“RBI”), National Company Law Tribunal (“NCLT”) and sectoral regulators. While each institution pursues a legitimate statutory objective, their concurrent involvement can create overlapping jurisdiction, repeated compliance and uncertainty in the transaction process. The consequences are practical: longer timelines, higher transaction costs and reduced deal certainty. This paper argues that the central difficulty is not the existence of multiple regulators but the insufficient coordination between their regulatory processes. Separate scrutiny may be justified; fragmented procedures are not. The paper examines selected Indian M&A transactions to demonstrate how differences in timelines, information requirements and regulatory sequencing can affect the deal execution. It argues for a more coordinated framework based on a clearer sequencing, harmonised timelines, inter regulatory consultation, standardised information requirements and greater use of pre filing engagement. The objective is not regulatory consolidation, but coordinated regulation. India needs specialised regulators that can work together more predictably.