Termination of Mutual Funds on or prior to 31 December 2020 (2020-12-15)

Summary

This is a General Industry Notice issued by CIMA on 15 December 2020, providing a temporary accommodation for mutual funds seeking to terminate and de-register by year-end 2020. The notice responds to a delay in the release of the new Fund Annual Return (FAR) V4.0 form, which otherwise would have prevented some funds from completing all de-registration steps before 31 December 2020.

• Conditions for accommodation: If a mutual fund has satisfied all termination requirements on or before 31 December 2020 except for filing the final audited accounts, the FAR, and payment of the FAR fee, CIMA will still treat 31 December 2020 as the effective de-registration date, provided those outstanding items are filed in 2021 and the audit report shows a sign-off date before 1 January 2021.
• Filing deadline: The outstanding final audited accounts, FAR, and FAR fee must be submitted no later than 31 March 2021.
• Submission channel: Termination applications must be submitted through CIMA's REEFS portal.
• Exclusion for funds not in good standing: The accommodation does not extend to funds that are not in good standing (e.g., those with outstanding annual registration fees or prior years' audited accounts/FAR fees); such funds will remain in 'Licence Under Termination' (LUT) status and remain liable for 2021 fees.

Key obligations

• To qualify for the accommodation, a mutual fund must have satisfied all termination requirements to effect de-registration (other than final audited accounts, FAR, and FAR fee) on or before 31 December 2020.
• The audit report supporting the final audited accounts must reflect a sign-off date prior to 1 January 2021 for the accommodation to apply.
• Funds relying on the accommodation must submit the final audited accounts, the FAR, and pay the FAR fee no later than 31 March 2021.
• Termination applications must be submitted via the Authority's REEFS portal.
• Funds not in good standing (outstanding annual fees, prior years' audited accounts or FAR fees) will remain in LUT status and remain liable for 2021 fees rather than benefiting from the accommodation.

Applies to

mutual funds

Deadlines

• 31 December 2020: Deadline by which all mutual fund termination requirements (other than final audited accounts, FAR, and FAR fee) must be satisfied for CIMA to honour this date as the effective de-registration date.
• 31 March 2021: Deadline for submission of the final audited accounts and FAR, and payment of the FAR fee, for funds relying on the termination accommodation.