19 March 2007

CESR Level 3 guidelines for UCITS

CESR published its final Level 3 guidelines on eligible assets of UCITS, complementing the Level 2 implementing Directive adopted by the European Commission. All these measures will help remove uncertainty as to whether UCITS can properly invest in categories of financial instruments, including transferable securities, money market instruments, derivative instruments on financial indices.

The Level 3 CESR Guidelines are part of the CESR advice to the Commission adopted in January regarding clarification of definitions concerning eligible assets for investments of UCITS.

The CESR Guidelines are meant to foster supervisory convergence in the day-to-day application of the criteria adopted in the new level 2 Directive by national authorities and to ensure their consistent implementation.

Until March 2008 CESR members will bring the implementing Directive and these guidelines into effect as a single package of measures.

One area of potential level 3 material remains outstanding, relating to the classification of hedge fund indices as eligible assets for investment by UCITS. CESR will issue additional level 3 guidelines in mid-2007, if appropriate.

Press release
Guidelines

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