The Gelephu Mindfulness City is a new common law jurisdiction with thirteen Acts in force, a single financial regulator and a registry that is incorporating companies now. Every firm, adviser and institution that serves international clients will, sooner or later, have a client who wants to be here. Basnet Law Pte. Ltd. is the first law firm incorporated in GMC, and we built the firm to be the partner those advisers call: the local counsel, the co-adviser and the on-the-ground presence that turns a client's interest in GMC into a filed, licensed, banked and staffed business.
This page sets out the collaborations we run, what a partner gets from us, what we look for, and how to start. It is written for law firms, fund administrators, banks and payment firms, tax and accounting practices, investment promotion agencies, universities, industry bodies and technology providers anywhere in the world.
Who We Partner With
International law firms
Instructing firms keep the client relationship; we supply the GMC law. Written conflict check and scope within one to two business days, opinions on capacity, enforceability, regulatory perimeter and tax, GFSO filings lodged from Gelephu, meetings with the registry and the regulator attended in person when a matter requires it, and reliance letters for lenders, exchanges and counterparties. We do not pay or ask for referral fees, and we do not approach a referred client for other work. The full protocol is on our page for international law firms.
Corporate service providers and fund administrators
Incorporation in GMC runs through a GMCA-empanelled CSP, and funds need administrators, custodians and licensed or foreign-recognised managers. We act as legal counsel alongside providers on the legal side of each file: constitutions, resident director arrangements, GFSO applications, fund documents and the no-objection route for managers from a Recognised Foreign Jurisdiction.
Banks, payment firms and digital asset businesses
Institutions entering GMC under the accelerated review pathway, and firms that need GMC perimeter opinions, licence applications or a local compliance officer, money laundering reporting officer or approved person. We also act as GMC counsel to exchanges and custodians onboarding GMC-incorporated clients.
Tax, accounting and wealth advisers
Joint advice on the Income Tax Act 2025: the 15% company rate, 0% for non-citizen individuals to 31 December 2030, the founders company exemption, the fund and family office exemptions, advance rulings under section 108 and the Bhutan and Singapore double taxation agreement signed in May 2026. We take the GMC law; you keep the client's home-country position.
Investment promotion agencies, chambers and industry bodies
Briefings for members on the eight GMC priority industries, co-hosted webinars and delegations, and a standing local counsel arrangement for members who decide to invest.
Universities, research institutes and professional bodies
Guest lectures and clinics on GMC law, internship placements in Gelephu for students from the third year onward, and co-authored publications on a jurisdiction whose legal system is being built in the open.
Technology, compliance and data providers
Legal review of onboarding, KYC, travel-rule and reporting products against GMC requirements, and joint offerings for GFSO licence applicants who need the compliance stack and the legal file at the same time.
What a Partner Gets From Us
A named lawyer, on the ground. Tika R. Basnet leads every partner relationship from Suite 413, ChoeGo Building, Gelephu, where the Gelephu Corporate Registration Office and the Gelephu Financial Services Office sit.
Work that cites the Act. Every opinion and memorandum cites the GMC Act or rulebook and states what the provision provides, so your client, your risk committee and the regulator can check it.
Fixed fees agreed in writing. A defined scope for an opinion, an incorporation or a licence application; an estimate for advisory work; registry and regulator fees at cost; invoiced to the partner or to the client as you direct.
Confidentiality and no poaching. Your client stays your client. Information barriers are set up in writing where two engagements touch, and we say so to both sides.
Current knowledge, shared. GMC Law Alerts when an Act is enacted, amended or commenced, when GFSO or GCRO publishes guidance, and when we publish a new guide, plus the GMC Law Library and Glossary for your teams.
Response within one to two business days. Conflict checks, scope confirmations and correspondence, in Bhutan Time, UTC+6.
Ways to Work Together
Local counsel on instruction. Matter by matter, on your engagement terms or ours.
Standing referral arrangement. A framework letter that fixes conflict-check timing, fee basis, confidentiality and reliance once, so each new matter starts the same day.
Joint advisory. One proposal to the client, two firms, one accountable lead. Common for redomiciliations, fund launches and licence applications that span two jurisdictions.
Secondments and training. Your lawyers in Gelephu for a matter or a season; our lawyers briefing your teams on GMC law.
Co-hosted briefings and publications. Webinars, delegations and written guides for your clients or members, with the facts checked against the current Acts.
What We Look For
Partners who act for clients with a real interest in GMC or Bhutan, who value written scope and fixed fees, and who hold the same professional standards on conflicts, confidentiality and client money that bind us. We are selective about capacity so that every partner gets the response times above.
How It Starts
Write to basnet@basnetgmc.com with the nature of your practice, the clients or members you serve and the collaboration you have in mind. We reply within one to two business days, run a conflict check where a matter is already on the table, and propose a first call by video or in Gelephu. Where the collaboration is a standing arrangement, we send a one-page framework letter for signature.
