Investment funds established in the UK and structured as collective investment schemes (CIS) must be authorised by us to be promoted to retail investors in the UK.
A fund or CIS that is established in the UK and takes one of the following legal forms must be authorised by us:
- authorised contractual scheme (ACS)
- authorised unit trust (AUT)
- investment company with variable capital (ICVC)
When applying to have an investment fund authorised, you must include the following:
- application form
- relevant supporting documents and information
- application fee
Prioritising defence-focused funds
The FCA has an objective to protect and enhance the integrity of the UK financial system – defence and resilience are core to market integrity. That’s why investment funds requiring authorisation may benefit from the FCA prioritising consideration of applications focused on the defence sector.
This does not affect existing statutory timelines and should not affect the service standards for other authorised fund applications.
Application forms
The application form you need to submit depends on the type of fund you want to establish in the UK:
- authorised contractual scheme (ACS): Form 261C[1] (DOC)
- authorised unit trust (AUT): Form 242[2] (DOC)
- investment company with variable capital (ICVC): Form 12[3] (DOC)
- money market fund (MMF) Form MMF[4] (DOC)
It's important you answer all questions on the form accurately and provide the supporting documents relevant to your proposed fund. This will mean 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 the required information without telling us why, or if you don't sign the declaration.
We have also provided an Authorised fund applications – our expectations document (PDF)[5] setting out FCA expectations, including useful information on the application process.
Supporting documents
Each of the application forms includes a checklist of documents that you should include with your application, where relevant. These include:
- ACS only: the draft of the proposed contractual scheme deed constituting the contractual scheme and a solicitor's certificate
- ACS where it is a limited partnership scheme rather than a co-ownership scheme: the certificate of registration as a limited partnership, under the Limited Partnership Act 1907 and certified in accordance with section 16(2) of that act (or a copy of the certificate)
- AUT only: the draft of the trust deed constituting the unit trust and a solicitor's certificate (if the draft is based on the IMA model trust deed all deviations should be highlighted, including proposed omissions)
- ICVC only: the draft of the instrument of incorporation constituting the ICVC and a solicitor's certificate (if the draft is based on the IMA model instrument of incorporation all deviations should be highlighted, including proposed omissions)
- the draft prospectus and a checklist indicating where the information required by COLL 4.2.5R or COLL 8.3.4R is located in the prospectus
- a model portfolio for each authorised fund
- the draft key investor information document if you are seeking authorisation for a UK UCITS scheme, or NURS-KII if you are seeking authorisation of a NURS and you wish to opt-in or PRIIPS KID
- for fund of alternative investments fund (FAIF): details of the due diligence process as required under COLL, including written procedures, resources, delegated functions, confirmation the depositary is satisfied with the process, and any due diligence already undertaken in respect of target schemes
- documents to evidence any guarantee arrangement
- MMF: the MMF checklist[6] (DOC)
KIID/NURS-KII/PRIIPS KID draft document
When applying for fund authorisation, you can provide one draft KIID/NURS-KII/PRIIPS KID document as an illustration of the proposal, such as a draft KIID/NURS-KII/PRIIPS KID reflecting income units with any differences within unit class designations being identified.
You must also confirm that any amendments made during our review process will be included in the final versions to be submitted with Form FN[7] (DOC). You must submit a KIID/NURS-KII for all unit classes being issued, unless a representative KIID/NURS-KII is being produced, with Form FN.
Depositary signatures
To apply for authorisation for a UK ICVC using Form 12[3] (DOC) or AUT using Form 242[2] (DOC), or an ACS using Form 261C[1] (DOC), the scheme depositary must sign the application form, or a copy of the original application form, to confirm they are aware of the proposed and that, in their opinion, the proposed comply with our rules at the time of the notification.
Where the depositary’s signature is submitted to us on a copy of the original application, it must also be obtained on an original signed copy of the form and retained for a reasonable period of time.
By providing a depositary signature, the depositary agrees to be contacted by the FCA over the course of the application.
During our review of the application, we may share information/questions with both the AFM and depositary, and the signing of the application form results in your agreement.
Application fee
The current application fees are detailed in the fees manual[8].
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 application fee must be made in good time before submitting your application.
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
Once a fund is authorised by us, it is also subject to periodic fees. The fees manual[11] has more information on these.
Submit an application
Send your applications:
- by email [email protected], or
- by post to Fund Authorisations, Financial Conduct Authority, 12 Endeavour Square, London, E20 1JN
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 line.
Contact us
When we receive a complete application, we will send you a confirmation email including 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 first contact your case officer.
Email any other questions to [email protected] and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
More information
The relevant rules for UK authorised funds are in:
NURS, QIS and LTAF funds are also subject to additional requirements under the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD).
15/07/2020: Link changed Link to AIFMD new fund under management notification document updated
