Under the new “light touch” regulatory regime, an approved fund manager will be able to submit what BVI law firm Harneys describes as a “simple and short application” to the Financial Services Commission and commence business seven days later, without having to wait for formal approval.
Ross Munro, global head of investment funds at Harneys, said: “The Approved Manager regime seeks to strike the right balance of flexibility and effective regulation taking into account the relative risk profile of the business carried on. I believe that the regime achieves this and will prove to be an attractive option for fund managers seeking to commence business quickly and in a cost effective manner.”
Harneys explains that, under the new regulations – called the Approved Investment Managers Guidelines – an approved manager can act as the investment manager or investment adviser to any number of private or professional funds recognised under the Securities and Investment Business Act, (which may included funds domiciled outside of the BVI) as well as any number of closed ended funds domiciled in the BVI which have the key characteristics of a private or professional fund.
The approved manager can also act for non-BVI feeder funds into BVI master funds. The key restriction is that aggregate assets under management of all of the open ended funds cannot exceed $400m and the capital commitments of all of the closed ended funds cannot exceed $1,000m. The higher threshold for closed ended funds is reflective of the risk based approach taken by the Commission in the development of the regime; closed ended funds are widely considered to expose interested parties to a lower level of regulatory risk.
To read a full guide on the new regime from Harneys click here
