A Guide To UCITS In Ireland

Introduction

Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities, commonly referred to as UCITS, are collective investment schemes established and authorised under a harmonised European Union (EU) legal framework under which a UCITS established and authorised in one EU Member State can be sold cross border into other EU Member States without a requirement for an additional authorisation. This so-called "European passport" is central to the UCITS product and enables fund promoters to create a single product for the entire EU rather than having to establish an investment fund product on a jurisdiction by jurisdiction basis.

Originally introduced over twenty years ago, UCITS have become the gold standard EU investment fund product, recognised not only by the European financial services community but also further afield with many non-EU jurisdictions accepting UCITS as suitable for retail sale into their domestic markets. Whilst sold across the full