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Martin Thommen

Under the EU’s UCITS IV Directive, all Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities (UCITS) that are publicly marketed in the EU will have to replace their simplified prospectus with the Key Investor Information Document (KID) from 1 July 2011, subject to a one-year transitional period. This standardized information for investors is to be written in readily understandable form and is to comprise no more than two A-4 pages, or three A-4 pages in the case of structured funds.

The KID offers certain improvements compared with the simplified prospectus. In particular, the new synthetic risk and reward indicator will be mandatory, and will express the risk/return profile of a fund as a number between 1 (lower risk/typically lower rewards) to 7 (higher risk/typically higher rewards).

The SFA welcomes the introduction of the KID, and has actively supported the authorities responsible. Only minor amendments are required to the collective investment schemes legislation, and these could be implemented in the Federal Councilʼs Ordinance (CISO). The corresponding amendments to the CISO will enter into force on 15 July 2011. “We would like to thank the authorities involved for dealing with this matter quickly and reaching a prompt decision. Introducing the KID in Switzerland at the same time as in the EU is in the interests of all Swiss and foreign fund promoters who market their UCITS in Switzerland.

This means that they now need only produce a concise information document, which also increases transparency for investors,” explained SFA President Martin Thommen. “The SFA will clarify the further questions relating to technical implementation with FINMA as quickly as possible. We will incorporate the detailed regulations of the EU supervisory authorities on the KID (CESR Guidelines) in the form of SFA self-regulation material, and submit this to FINMA for approval. This will mean that Swiss retail funds can also use a KID in the foreseeable future,” said SFA CEO Dr. Matthäus Den Otter.

Full press release: Source

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