Certified Funds Code of Practice - Schedule 4 (OCIF Guide)

Summary

This is Schedule 4 (the OCIF Guide) to the Certified Funds Code of Practice made under the Collective Investment Funds (Jersey) Law 1988. It sets out the JFSC's detailed requirements for Jersey Open-Ended Unclassified Collective Investment Funds (OCIFs) that are offered to the general public, covering fund structure, service providers, documentation, pricing and dealing in units, investment and borrowing restrictions, and specific fund types.

• Structure and service providers: Sets qualification, appointment, retirement and removal requirements for the promoter, manager, trustee/custodian, investment adviser/manager, administrator and auditor of an OCIF.
• Fund documents: Governs the content and use of the prospectus, marketing materials and constitutive documents (trust deed or articles of association).
• Pricing, issue and redemption: Prescribes valuation and pricing methods (including single pricing), creation and cancellation of units, dealing frequency, suspension/deferral of dealing, minimum holdings, meetings and the register of holders.
• Investment and borrowing limits: Sets spread-of-investment, permitted asset, derivatives, connected-party transaction and borrowing limits, with tailored rules in appendices for specific fund types (General Securities Fund, Fund of Funds, Feeder Fund, Money Market Fund, Warrant Fund, Real Property Fund and others).
• Financial reporting: Specifies detailed accounting policy disclosures, connected-person transaction disclosures, borrowings disclosures, portfolio and performance table content, and required content of the auditor's report (Appendix 9).

The guide is a technical rulebook rather than a standalone notice: it is directed at those who promote, manage, administer, act as trustee/custodian for, or audit a certified OCIF, and its requirements apply on an ongoing basis for as long as the fund is certified and operating.

Key obligations

• Managers, trustees/custodians, administrators, investment advisers and auditors of an OCIF must meet the qualification and conduct standards set out in the guide for their role
• OCIFs must use single pricing or otherwise comply with the guide's prescribed valuation and pricing methodology for issuing and redeeming units
• OCIFs must observe the spread of investment, permitted asset and borrowing limits applicable to their fund type (General Securities Fund, Fund of Funds, Feeder Fund, Money Market Fund, Warrant Fund, Real Property Fund, etc.)
• Transactions with connected persons must be identified and disclosed in the OCIF's accounts
• Annual/periodic accounts must disclose specified accounting policies (valuation of listed/unlisted securities, revenue recognition, foreign currency translation, valuation of derivatives, amortisation of formation costs, taxation) and any changes to them
• Accounts must include a performance table covering the last three financial years and a ten year performance record (or the period of existence if shorter)
• The auditor's report must state specified matters, including whether accounts were properly prepared in accordance with the constitutive documents and the guide, whether a true and fair view is given, and whether proper books and records were kept

Applies to

Open-ended unclassified collective investment funds (OCIFs), Fund companies, Promoters, Managers, Trustees/custodians, Investment advisers/investment managers, Administrators, Auditors