Registered Valuer Entity

A Category III AIF's independent valuer does not have to be one person working alone. It can be a partnership firm or a company.

When it is, the entity itself has to clear a specific bar: it must be registered with the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) as a Registered Valuer Entity. That registration belongs to the entity — the firm or company — not to any one individual inside it.

The eligibility rule has two layers, and both must be satisfied:

1. The entity itself — a partnership or company acting as independent valuer — must be a Registered Valuer Entity registered with IBBI.
2. The specific person(s) it deputes to actually carry out the valuation of a Category III AIF's investment portfolio must separately hold membership of ICAI, ICSI or ICMAI, or hold the CFA Charter from the CFA Institute.

This sits alongside the general independent valuer eligibility rules — not being an associate of the manager, sponsor or trustee, and having at least 3 years' experience valuing unlisted securities. Where the valuer is a single individual rather than a firm, that individual must instead be personally registered with IBBI and hold one of the same professional memberships, or be a holding company or subsidiary of a SEBI-registered Credit Rating Agency.

Coromandel Valuations LLP wants to act as the independent valuer for a Category III AIF's unlisted equity holdings.

For the appointment to be valid: Coromandel Valuations LLP itself must be registered with IBBI as a Registered Valuer Entity. Separately, the specific valuer at the firm who signs off on the fund's valuations — say, a partner with 6 years' experience valuing unlisted shares — must hold an ICAI, ICSI or ICMAI membership, or a CFA Charter.

If the LLP is IBBI-registered but deputes a junior associate with no ICAI, ICSI, ICMAI or CFA credential to sign off on the valuation, the appointment fails the second limb of the test, even though the entity itself cleared the first.

Chapter 8, section 8.4 (Role of third-party Registered Valuers), sets out the two-layer test for a partnership or company acting as independent valuer, alongside the general eligibility criteria for an individual valuer. Expect a question distinguishing the entity-level IBBI registration from the individual-level professional membership requirement, since both must be met for a firm to qualify.

• The entity registers with IBBI; the individuals it deputes hold ICAI, ICSI, ICMAI or CFA credentials. These are two separate requirements, not alternatives to each other.
• This test applies specifically where the valuer is a partnership or company, not an individual acting alone — an individual valuer is tested under the general independent valuer eligibility criteria instead.
• Do not treat Registered Valuer Entity status alone as sufficient — a properly registered entity that deputes an unqualified individual still fails the appointment test.