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ARTICLE · 13 FEBRUARY 2017

ESMA issues Opinion On UCITS Share Classes

Dillon Eustace
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Following earlier consultations (in December 2014 and April 2016), ESMA has now issued an opinion to EU regulators on the extent to which share classes of the same UCITS fund can differ from one another.

European UnionFinance and Banking
Dillon Eustace
Dillon Eustace
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Background and Introduction

Following earlier consultations (in December 2014 and April 2016), ESMA has now issued an opinion to EU regulators on the extent to which share classes of the same UCITS fund can differ from one another (the "Opinion"). The aim of the Opinion is to introduce a harmonized approach throughout the EU for the treatment of share classes through the adoption of a common set of principles. A copy of the Opinion can be found here:

https://www.esma.europa.eu/sites/default/files/library/opinion_on_ucits_share_classes.pdf.

Key points - High Level Principles

The Opinion sets out a number of high level principles which ESMA considers should be followed when setting up different share classes within a UCITS fund:-

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