Investment funds established outside the UK must be recognised in the UK to be marketed to the general public. See how to apply for recognition.
Funds established in countries other than the UK must be recognised by us under section 272 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA) or must be entered into the temporary marketing permissions regime (TMPR).
The Overseas Funds Regime (OFR) is expected to go live later in 2024. Further information on the regime can be found here: Overseas Funds Regime: Update for firms[1]
If you’re an operator of an EEA UCITS in the temporary marketing permissions regime, please ensure you review the Overseas Funds Regime[1] webpage to ensure a smooth transition from TMPR into OFR.
Fund recognition under section 272 of FSMA
To have a fund recognised by us you must ensure your eligibility to have a fund recognised under this section. An umbrella scheme or a sub-fund of an umbrella scheme within the temporary marketing permissions regime (TMPR), will not be able to use this route. You must also:
- contact us to discuss the process and answer a number of pre-application questions
- Pay the application fee to us in good time
- submit an application for recognition of the AIF/fund: Form 272[2] (DOC, 285KB, 25 pages)
- provide relevant documents and information as shown in Form 272[3]
- Meet the requirement for the full legal comparison of the UK comparable scheme (UCITS/ NURS/ QIS/ LTAF) and the rules as they apply to the scheme you want recognised in the UK*
- include in the prospectus and notification letter the address and details of facilities that will be maintained in the UK to allow, for example, a member of the public to inspect the scheme documentation, as in COLL 9.4
*For the legal comparison we require a gap analysis between the relevant rules applicable to the UK scheme type. We should be able to understand from the provided comparison where there are differences in the rules which would apply to the UK scheme type and the rules which apply to the scheme you wish to be recognised. Where there are differences identified you should provide commentary on why you believe the rules applicable to the scheme to be recognised still provides UK investors with adequate protection.
It is important you answer all questions on the forms accurately and provide the relevant supporting documents. This will ensure we can review your application as quickly as possible.
Your application may be considered incomplete if you do not answer all relevant questions or provide required information without telling us why, or you do not sign the declaration.
We must process all complete applications within 6 months.
Applications for recognition of Hong Kong Covered Funds under section 272 of FSMA
To have a Hong Kong Covered Fund (as defined in the SFC/FCA Mutual Recognition of Funds Memorandum of Understanding[3] and the First Addendum to the SFC/FCA Mutual Recognition of Funds Memorandum of Understanding[4]), recognised by us you must:
- submit an application for recognition of the fund – Form 272 HK[5]
- provide relevant documents and information as shown in Form 272 HK[7]
- ensure you have read the FCA Circular[6] and you can meet the general and eligibility requirements
- pay the application fee to us
It is important you answer all questions on the form accurately and provide the relevant supporting documents. This will ensure we can review your application as quickly as possible.
Your application may be considered incomplete if you do not answer all relevant questions or provide required information without telling us why, or you do not sign the declaration.
We will aim to process complete applications within 2 months.
Application fee
The current application fees are detailed in the fees manual[7]. This fee only applies for the initial recognition of an overseas scheme, and is not for the recognition of any subsequent sub-funds.
You must pay this application fee before you submit the application to us.
When applying, you must make a BACS or CHAPS payment to ‘FCA Collection’ and include ‘CIS’ followed by the scheme name as a reference.
The FCA Collection account details are:
Account name: FCA Collection
Bank name: Lloyds Bank
Account number: 00828179
Sort code: 30-00-02
IBAN code: GB68 LOYD 3000 0200 8281 79
Note that once a fund is recognised by us it is also subject to periodic fees. The fees manual[10] has more information on these.
Submit an application
Applications should be sent via:
- email to [email protected]
When emailing documents, the name of each document must follow our naming conventions.
Emails may contain multiple documents but don't compress documents unless the total size of the email, including documents, exceeds 10MB.
Compressed documents must be in a .zip format (Legacy Zip 2.0) and are also subject to the 10MB limit, so you may need to send multiple emails. If sending multiple emails you should mark it ‘email x of x’ in the subject.
Contact us
When we receive a complete application, we will send you a confirmation email that will include the contact details of the case officer who will deal with your application.
If you have a query about an open application or notification, you should firstly contact your case officer.
Email any other questions to [email protected] and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
If you wish to add as newly authorised sub-fund to an umbrella scheme already within TMPR, please see adding a new sub-fund to an umbrella scheme in the TMPR[8].
