PEOPLE

Sameena Jahangir is a Partner within the Corporate and Tax team at Kochhar & Co. in the Firm’s Mumbai office.

A corporate and tax lawyer with more than 16 years of post-qualification experience, Sameena is also a qualified company secretary. Her practice areas encompass corporate law, company laws, foreign investments, transaction advisory, secretarial compliance, direct taxation, and regulatory affairs.

Sameena has extensive experience advising corporate clients on employment law issues, covering both national and state employment legislation, as well as on sexual harassment at workplace laws, the formation of internal complaints committees, and the handling of related complaints.

Sameena has significant expertise in drafting, vetting, and negotiating commercial agreements, contracts, and transactional documents in relation to private equity and mergers & acquisitions, and has significant expertise in foreign exchange laws, RBI policies, and deal structuring.

Sameena has represented numerous multinational and foreign companies across sectors in connection with investments into India, the establishment of wholly owned subsidiaries, branch and liaison offices, joint ventures, and acquisitions, in addition to advising on day-to-day corporate and regulatory compliances. Her work has included organisational structuring, due diligence, and advice on regulatory approvals. In recent years, she has handled several marquee transactions involving high-value restructuring and acquisitions for clients in the financial services and manufacturing sectors.

Sameena is actively involved in promoting legal education and regularly mentors professionals through both online and offline platforms.

• Co-led advice for Tata Communications on a significant cross-border group restructuring involving TCL entities in India, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands. Advised on structuring the transaction in compliance with FEMA 1999, SEBI (LODR) Regulations 2015, and the Companies Act 2013, facilitating a simplified group structure aligned with TCL’s global lean strategy. Liaised with international counsel across jurisdictions to achieve time-bound closing.
• Advised the Sami-Sabinsa Group and other Co-petitioners, and successfully obtained an interim stay from the Karnataka High Court on the FSSAI’s April 2026 advisory and the Union AYUSH Ministry’s directive restricting the use of Ashwagandha leaves and extracts in health supplements and nutraceuticals. The matter involved complex questions of statutory interpretation under the Food Safety and Standards (Health Supplements, Nutraceuticals) Regulations, 2016 and constitutional challenges under Article 19(1)(g).
• Advised Compass Group, one of the world’s largest food services conglomerates on Multi-Brand Retail Trading (MBRT) regulations under India’s FDI policy, and structured their Indian business operations to ensure full compliance with applicable foreign investment norms.
• Advised a leading Indian financial services group on regulatory and compliance aspects of over-the-counter (OTC) derivative transactions, including applicable RBI guidelines and FEMA regulations governing derivative contracts in India.
• Advised an international factoring company on the applicability and compliance requirements under the Factoring Regulation Act and related RBI regulations, including cross-border receivables financing structures and permissibility of factoring arrangements under Indian law.
• Advised an international factoring company on the applicability and compliance requirements under the Factoring Regulation Act and related RBI regulations, including cross-border receivables financing structures and permissibility of factoring arrangements under Indian law.
• Advised Finicity / Mastercard on the Indian leg of the global acquisition by Mastercard for an all-cash deal of USD 825 million, and assisted in all pre-closing, closing and post-closing formalities.
• Advised Kirloskar Oil Engines Limited on the acquisition of Optiflex, including due diligence, drafting of transaction and ancillary documents, and pre-closing, closing and post-closing formalities.