Collective Investment Schemes (Class A) Rules 2002

Summary

This is the core Guernsey Financial Services Commission rulebook governing Class A collective investment schemes (open-ended retail funds authorised under the Protection of Investors (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law, 1987). It sets out detailed requirements for how such schemes must be constituted, priced, invested, administered and reported on, and has been amended over time (including a 2003 amendment instrument reproduced at the end of the document).

• Scheme constitution and documents: Requires principal documents (trust deed/instrument, scheme particulars) to be drawn up, kept available to the public, and kept accurate; false or misleading particulars are prohibited and particulars must be revised when they become inaccurate.
• Pricing and dealing: Prescribes how initial offers, creation and cancellation of units, sale and redemption prices, forward/historic pricing and valuation of scheme property must be calculated and published, and imposes obligations on the manager to sell and redeem units and to notify prices to the trustee.
• Investment and borrowing powers: Sets detailed investment spread, gearing, borrowing and permitted-asset limits for different fund categories (securities funds, money market funds, futures and options funds, geared funds, property funds, warrant funds, feeder funds, funds of funds, umbrella funds) and rules on efficient portfolio management, stocklending and use of derivatives.
• Title to units: Governs maintenance of the register of unitholders, issuance of certificates, conversion and subdivision of units, and treatment of defaulting holders.
• Accounting and reporting: Specifies the content required in annual (and short form) accounts, including statements of total return, portfolio statements, net liquid assets, contingent liabilities, forward exchange positions, stocklending activity, dealing commission and related-party disclosures.
• 2003 amendment: A 2003 amending instrument, made 15 April 2003 and effective 30 April 2003, made miscellaneous textual changes and deemed existing Class A1/A2 schemes to become Class A Schemes under the amended rules from the effective date.

The rules apply on an ongoing basis to authorised Class A schemes and to the managers, trustees and investment advisers responsible for operating them, covering the full lifecycle from establishment through pricing, investment activity and financial reporting.

Key obligations

• Managers must draw up scheme particulars for each authorised scheme and make the principal documents and scheme particulars publicly available.
• Scheme particulars must not be false or misleading and must be revised when they become inaccurate or incomplete.
• Managers must calculate and publish sale and redemption prices in accordance with the prescribed single/dual and forward/historic pricing methods.
• Managers have an ongoing obligation to sell and to redeem units at the properly calculated price and to notify prices to the trustee.
• Scheme property must be invested and borrowing undertaken within the spread, gearing and permitted-asset limits applicable to the relevant fund category (securities, money market, futures and options, geared, property, warrant, feeder, fund of funds, umbrella).
• The manager or trustee must maintain a register of unitholders and issue/replace certificates in accordance with the rules.
• Annual accounts (and short form accounts where applicable) must include the prescribed disclosures, including statement of total return, portfolio statement, net liquid assets, contingent liabilities, stocklending details and related-party transactions.

Applies to

managers of Class A collective investment schemes, trustees of authorised schemes, investment advisers, authorised Class A collective investment schemes

Deadlines

• 30 April 2003: Effective date of the Collective Investment Schemes (Class A) Rules 2002 (Amendment) Rules 2003, from which existing Class A1/A2 schemes are deemed Class A Schemes under the amended rules.

Related documents

• Authorised Collective Investment Schemes (Class A) Rules 2008 replaces this document