Specialised Investment Funds (SIF) | Whitepaper |
Scope
- Lightly regulated and tax efficient multipurpose investment fund vehicle including alternative investment strategies (e.g. real estate, private equity, infrastructure, renewable energy, hedge, art funds, etc.).
Eligible investors
- Institutional or professional investors.
- Private individuals adhering in writing to a well-informed investor status and who
- invest at least €125,000, or
- have certification by a credit institution, an investment firm or a management company to adequately comprehend such investment.
Authorisation – Supervision
- Subject to the supervision of the Luxembourg regulatory authority (CSSF).
- May start its activities without prior approval by CSSF provided an application file is submitted to the authorities within one month following its creation.
Legal framework
- Contractual form: common funds (FCP) represented by a management company.
- Corporate form: investment companies with variable capital (SICAV) structured as public limited company (S.A.), private limited liability company (S.à R.L.), partnership limited by shares (S.C.A.) or cooperative in the form of a public limited company.
- Any other legal form available under the Luxembourg commercial law.
- Possibility to have separate portfolios under an umbrella structure.
Investment policy
- Broad range of eligible assets.
- No borrowing limitations.
- Risk spreading principle (30% threshold).
Regulatory framework
- Registered seat and central administration located in Luxembourg.
- Minimum capital (net assets for FCP) of €1,250,000 to be reached within a period of 12 months following the approval from the CSSF.
- Directors of the fund or of the management company (if FCP) must justify their reputation, and prove their professional experience in relation to the SIF profile.
- Depositary must be a Luxembourg bank or a Luxembourg branch of a bank with its registered seat in another EU member state.
- Independent auditor required.
- Promoter and Investment managers not subject to approval of the CSSF.
- Possibility to be listed.
Reporting
- Annual audited report to be made available within 6 months of the end of the period.
- No requirement to publish net asset value.
- No semi-annual report.
- Choice of the valuation method of the assets.
Taxation
- Possibility to opt for a tax transparent form (FCP) or a corporate form depending on investor’s requirements.
- Annual subscription tax of 0.01% of net assets. Certain investment may be exempted (e.g. pension pooling vehicle and fund of Luxembourg funds).
- No taxation on income and capital gains.
- No capital duty applies on incorporation of the corporate form (except a registration duty of €75).
- No withholding tax upon distribution to investors unless EU Savings Directive applies.
- Not subject to net worth tax.
- Possibility for a corporate form to benefit from certain tax treaties concluded by Luxembourg.
- VAT exemption on management services.
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Specialised Investment Funds (SIF) - English version
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