Marketing Offshore Funds in Switzerland

Under the current law, a license to market shares in an offshore fund to the public in Switzerland can only be granted to a Swiss bank or a Swiss branch of a foreign bank, although not in respect of an offshore futures fund. Under the new law a license may be granted to any person, but only if an offshore futures fund is subject to home country control and its structure and investment policies are equivalent to those of Swiss funds.

Under the new law, offshore futures funds will be able to obtain a license to promote themselves in Switzerland whether they are contractual or corporate. They will be exempt from the requirement to redeem shares at any time.

A fund may avoid these requirements by marketing strictly on a private placement basis. In this case, no licences are required by the fund itself or the broking intermediary. However, a fairly restrictive stance on the number and type of investors that can be approached must be employed. The following criteria are applied: Read more »

Posted: February 8th, 2008 under Future Fund, Future Investing.
Comments: 5

Marketing of Offshore Futures Funds in Norway

The marketing of shares in an offshore futures fund in Norway is largely prohibited. If an investor approaches an intermediary and asks to invest in an offshore futures fund, the intermediary may help; but marketing using a prospectus, advertisement or other promotional material, including by way of a private placement, is prohibited.

Legislation

Current legislation for funds in Portugal is based on the Decree-Law 229-C/88, and allows for the formation of both open-ended and closed-ended funds in contractual form.

Such funds cannot at present invest in futures, although a review of the legislation is under way to incorporate the UCITS directive, and this may allow the use of futures in domestic funds for hedging purposes only. Read more »

Posted: February 8th, 2008 under Future Fund, Future Investing.
Comments: 5

Offshore Futures Funds

If the IML gives its approval, shares in offshore futures funds can be sold in Luxembourg, as long as they comply with domestic marketing rules on consumer protection and canvassing market practices. Approval will only be given if the offshore fund concerned is regulated, in the jurisdiction in which it is established, by a supervisory authority set up by law to ensure the protection of investors.

A private offering of an offshore fund can be made in Luxembourg without registering the fund or seeking a listing in Luxembourg. To qualify as a private placement, there must be no public solicitation or advertising in Luxembourg.

Offers may only be made to a limited number of institutional investors including banks, non-banking financial institutions, brokers, mutual fund agents and professionals engaged in the marketing of mutual funds and authorised as such in Luxembourg. There is no specific limit as to the number of investors to whom such a private placement can be made, although offers should not be made to other funds otherwise the offering will be deemed to be a public offering (that is, to all the investors of the fund). There are no unsolicited calls or similar rules. Read more »

Posted: February 8th, 2008 under Future Fund, Future Investing.
Comments: 4

Marketing Offshore Funds in Italy

To market offshore funds to the public, an application must be made to the Ministry of Treasury and the Ministry of Foreign Trade for authorisation. This will only be granted if these ministries are satisfied that the laws of the jurisdiction in which the offshore futures fund is incorporated are compatible with Italian law. The fund will have to open a representative office in Italy and will also have to either appoint an Italian bank or use a bank from another EC member state that has a branch in Italy that can act as custodian of its assets. Authorisation is deemed to have been granted if not refused within 60 days of the date on which the application was made to the Ministry of Foreign Trade.

1. banks and credit institutions;
2. insurance companies;
3. companies managing mutual funds;
4. stock exchange brokerage companies;
5. financial companies.

Subsequent to any placement, Consob must be notified of the names of purchasing investors, the type of fund and the amounts involved. Read more »

Posted: February 8th, 2008 under Future Fund, Future Investing, Futures Contracts.
Comments: 3