Overview of COLL and Fund Sourcebooks

Session: Overview of the UK Funds Landscape

Funds under COLL – UCITS, NURS and QIS schemes
Wider scheme types covered under FUND and AIFMD
An overview of the COLL and FUND Sourcebooks
Other regulations / provisions

Session: UCITS Fund Regulations under COLL

An Introduction to UCITS Funds:

Features
Operating principles
Structures
Roles and responsibilities: ACD, Fund Manager, Fund Administrator, Transfer Agent, Trustee, Custodian

Unit Holder dealing:

Dealing
Purchases, redemptions, switches
Cash vs. in specie payments
Dealing prices – single or dual, dilution methods

Creations and cancellations:

Handling cash flows in funds
The Manager’s box
Late dealing issues

Investment and borrowing powers:

UCITS III vs. UCITS I
Eligible assets for UCITS
Spread and concentration rules
Using derivatives – EPM vs. Investment purposes
Key fund types – index funds, fund of funds, guaranteed, capital protected

Fund valuation:

General principles
Elements of the Fund NAV
Distribution

Breaches and errors

Pricing errors:

Examples of how pricing errors can arise
Trade capture, suspended securities, incorrect accruals etc
Regulation of pricing errors – materiality, FSA reporting etc
Processes for resolution of pricing errors

Investment and borrowing breaches:

Different types of breaches
How breaches can occur – dealing, stock and fund pricing, amalgamations etc
Advertent vs. Inadvertent
Resolution

Fund distribution and investor communication:

Key distribution channels – IFAs, Fund supermarkets
Contract notes
Prospectus, simplified prospectus and key disclosures
Report and Accounts
Fundamental, significant and notifiable change events

Session: Non UCITS Retail Schemes (NURS)

Key investment limit differences between UCITS and NURS
Key operational differences, including dealing and redemption arrangements
Making the choice between UCITS and NURS

Property schemes under COLL:

Common legal structures
Key Players and responsibilities, including the Standing
Independent Valuer
Investment powers
Operational powers – issue and redemption powers
Monitoring and managing liquidity

Qualified Investor Schemes (QIS):

An overview of the QIS rules in COLL
Comparison of QIS, UCITS and NURS: investment limits and operational responsibilities
Review of selected QIS funds launched and the challenges to uptake

Session: UCITS IV

UCITS IV – new opportunities and obligations

Management company obligations, including risk management requirements
Cross-border fund mergers
Master / Feeder Structures
The management company passport
Simplified notification procedures
Key Investor Information

Session: An overview of AIFMD and FUND

Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD)

Timetable and progress
Implementation into FCA’s new “FUND” Sourcebook
Scope, Authorisations and Exemptions
Organisation requirements, conduct of business and conflicts of interest
Risk Management, leverage and liquidity
Disclosures to investors
Reporting to regulators
Depositary requirements and depositary liability
Regulatory disclosures
Impact on fund distribution