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ARTICLE · 12 FEBRUARY 2024

UK's Overseas Funds Regime Moves A Step Closer With Confirmation That Most EEA UCITS Will Be Deemed Equivalent

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The UK's overseas funds regime has been in development for several years and is finally close to becoming a reality. It will create a more streamlined method by which non-UK funds given "equivalence"

GlobalFinance and Banking
Shane Geraghty
Shane Geraghty
Andrew J. Massey
Andrew J. Massey
Philip J. Morgan
Philip J. Morgan
Aoife Maguire
Aoife Maguire

The UK's overseas funds regime has been in development for several years and is finally close to becoming a reality. It will create a more streamlined method by which non-UK funds given "equivalence" status may be marketed to UK retail investors.

Although there is still no clear start date, the recent UK Government statement is a significant milestone. It confirms that European Economic Area Undertakings for the Collective Investment in Transferable Securities (UCITS) funds (other than money market funds) will be treated as being equivalent for the purposes of the Overseas Funds Regime (OFR). This decision now needs to be enacted by secondary legislation.

The statement expresses an intention not to impose additional UK requirements as a condition to the equivalence determination. This is subject to ongoing discussions on the possible application of UK sustainability disclosure requirements to overseas funds. Future divergence, for example from ESMA's

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