Dina Wadia

Practice Areas

Dina specialises in Banking & Finance, Investment Funds, Financial Services, and Mergers & Cross Border Investments & Acquisitions.

She has extensive experience advising Indian and Multinational banks, NBFCs, financial institutions, development financial institutions, debt funds, sovereign funds and corporate borrowers and clients across all manner of finance related transactions which are compliant with Indian banking and exchange control regulations including provision of credit facilities to corporates for all manner of lending transactions (secured, limited recourse and syndicated), project finance, real estate financing, to offshore subsidiaries and overseas companies for acquisition & leveraged finance and structured finance, structuring debt and quasi debt and equity transactions (including non-convertible listed debentures), security creation and enforcement. More recently she has been actively involved in various debt restructuring and security enforcement assignments and the corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) under the new Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC).

She leads the Debt Capital Markets practice of the firm and is also actively involved in advising banks and large Indian corporates in raising debt capital in the Indian and overseas markets through the issue of Medium Term Note Programs and High Yield and Green Bonds established or set up under Regulation S as well as Rule 144A, i.e. either Euro or Global MTN programmes, of the United States Securities Act, 1933, denominated in foreign currency as well as Rupee denominated bonds (“Masala Bonds” )and offered in the international capital markets as well as standalone issuances.

Dina also advises on the formation and establishment of onshore & offshore funds and pooled investment vehicles including general or sector specific private equity funds, venture capital funds, alternate investment funds, infrastructure and real estate investment funds and mutual funds and their subsequent capital raising and investment activities. She has advised funds, corporates and multi-lateral institutions on their investments into India and their exits from these investments. She has been involved with the domestic mutual fund industry since the opening of this sector to banks, offshore and private players in 1989 and with offshore depository receipt programmes of Indian issuers since inception of these transactions in India in 1993/ 1994. Most recently she has been at the forefront of setting up and establishing the first Infrastructure Investment Trust.

In addition, she has extensive experience in the areas of M&A, private equity and foreign investment and advises both strategic and financial investors on their investments and divestments in Indian companies under the automatic route and approval route as well as cross border joint ventures and acquisitions across industry sectors.

Career

She was the Joint Managing Partner of the firm for a term between January 2017 until December 2019

She has been practicing law since 1982. Before joining JSA, she was with Little & Co, one of India’s oldest law firms, and was a Partner there for over ten years.

Professional Memberships

Bar Council of Maharashtra & Goa

Bombay Bar Association

Bombay Incorporated Law Society

International Bar Association

Personal

Chambers & Partners Asia Pacific and Global has consistently ranked Dina Wadia as an Eminent Practitioner for Banking & Finance for many years most recently as 2023 and has described Dina as ‘well known and well respected" and that she gives pragmatic advice.” Clients also described Dina as ‘renowned for her “deep legal knowledge and quick, commercial thinking”. “She is particularly active in structured finance, project finance and overseas bond transactions.” She has also ‘attracted hearty client praise: “We were across the table from her in a deal, but she is one of the most commercially focused lawyers I have ever seen; I would hire her in a heartbeat.”’ Dina has also been described as a lawyer who ‘is extremely well respected’ and ‘can be relied upon for “commercial thinking allied with advanced technical abilities”’. “She is a main contact for debt and M&A work.”

She is also consistently named for the past many years as one of the Leading Individuals/Band 1 for Banking and Finance in all the leading legal directories including Legal 500, Asia Pacific Legal 500, IFLR, Asia Law etc. Most recently she has been named as Women Leaders in the IFLR Asia Best Lawyers 2022 which recognizes the top individual practitioners who have received the highest and most consistent praise from their peers and clients. It is the most definitive list of best of the best lawyers in the Asia pacific region. Asia Law Leading Lawyers 2023 Edition has listed her as one of the two “Elite Practitioners” in the Banking & Finance sector in India. Legal Era has recognized Dina as Leading Lawyer Legends 2023 in Banking & Finance, Capital Markets and Insolvency.

Dina has been consistently named in IBA’s The International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers publications of Leading Practitioners for Banking, Project Finance, Public Procurement, Project Finance and Mergers & Acquisitions.