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ARTICLE · 12 FEBRUARY 2015

UCITS – ESMA Developing A Common Understanding On Share Classes

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ESMA published a discussion paper on share classes of UCITS Funds with a view to developing a common understanding of what constitutes a share class of a UCITS Fund.

MaltaFinance and Banking
Kurt Hyzler
Kurt Hyzler
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On the 23rd of December 2014 the European Securities and Markets Authority ("ESMA") published a discussion paper on share classes of UCITS Funds with a view to developing a common understanding of what constitutes a share class of a UCITS Fund.  This was spurred by the fact that whilst the UCITS Directive recognises the possibility for UCITS Funds to offer different share classes to investors, it does not define the term "Class" or the way one class can differ from another class. As a consequence, ESMA identified diverging national practices as to the types of share class that are permitted, ranging from very simple share classes to much more sophisticated share classes.

Share Class – The Principles

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