UCITS: Central Bank Clarifies Position On Brazil And Rule 144A Securities

Central Bank relaxes rules on Brazilian sovereign debt

Until recently, a UCITS generally could only invest up to 35% of its net asset value in securities issued or guaranteed by any non-OECD government issuer (other than Singapore). As a result of submissions made by Arthur Cox, the Central Bank has now permitted an Irish fund to invest up to 100% of its assets in securities issued or guaranteed by the Government of Brazil, provided the issues are of investment grade.

This change represents a significant opportunity for Irish funds that want to extend their product range to include higher exposure to sovereign debt from certain non-OECD issuers. It is expected that the list of non-OECD issuers will be extended shortly by the Central Bank to include another BRIC country.