Withdrawal of Operator Letters in Lieu of Notarised Affidavits (2025-07-18)

Summary

CIMA has announced that it is withdrawing, effective 15 October 2025, the temporary COVID-19 accommodation (originally introduced via a 30 March 2020 notice) that allowed applicants to submit operator letters in lieu of notarised affidavits when registering or licensing mutual funds and private funds. From that date, CIMA will no longer accept operator letters as a substitute for notarised affidavits.

• Who is affected: Anyone submitting registration or licensing applications for funds under the Mutual Funds Act (2025 Revision) and the Private Funds Act (2025 Revision) — i.e., fund operators, administrators, attorneys and other industry participants preparing such applications.
• New requirement: Going forward, these applications must be accompanied by duly notarised affidavits in accordance with CIMA's standard requirements, rather than the interim operator letter alternative.

The notice is essentially administrative in nature: it does not change substantive fund regulation, but it removes a procedural shortcut that had been available since 2020. Applicants should plan ahead to obtain notarisation in time for any applications submitted on or after 15 October 2025 to avoid processing delays.

Key obligations

• Applications for fund registration or licensing under the Mutual Funds Act (2025 Revision) and the Private Funds Act (2025 Revision) submitted on or after 15 October 2025 must be accompanied by duly notarised affidavits rather than operator letters.
• Industry participants should ensure compliance with applicable legislative and regulatory requirements (i.e., obtain notarised affidavits) to avoid delays in application processing.

Applies to

mutual funds, private funds, fund operators, fund registrants/licensees under the Mutual Funds Act and Private Funds Act

Deadlines

• 15 October 2025: Effective date on which CIMA withdraws the operator-letter accommodation; from this date, applications for fund registration or licensing must be accompanied by notarised affidavits instead of operator letters.