Amendment to an existing UCITS

A specific application questionnaire to provide the CSSF with any relevant information for the examination of the application for approval of new sub-fund(s) is available under “Forms”. This must be accompanied by the “AML/CFT Market Entry Form” available on the CSSF’s eDesk Portal.

Any application file is constituted of the duly completed application questionnaire and of the appended documents and must be submitted together via email to setup.uci@cssf.lu.

Applicants are advised to file an application only once all components of the project are fully fixed and stable. The transmission of a partial (incomplete) application may prevent the start of the approval process and cause unexpected delays in the examination process.

Useful information is available under Guides intended to provide details in order to constitute a complete and compliant file and to provide further information on expected documents.

The CSSF will acknowledge receipt of the application file within two working days and provide the name of the officer responsible for the examination of the application file by means of an email to the address of the contact person provided in the application questionnaire.

The CSSF will contact the applicant within ten working days after receiving the application file for feedback (request for further information and/or supportive documents, supplementary confirmations, clarification of certain aspects of the request…).

Complementary information or documents must be submitted via email. An exchange of comments will continue until satisfactory completion of the examination phase.

If the applicant experiences any difficulty in providing further information on specific considerations of the application and does not provide the information requested by the CSSF within a reasonable time limit (maximum one month), the CSSF will contact the applicant to ask whether the application is to be continued or withdrawn.

Upon satisfactory receipt of the prospectus, the CSSF will add the approved sub-fund(s) to the official list.

In parallel, the CSSF issues an official accreditation letter by email, as well as the CSSF identification codes of the sub-fund(s) approved.

The CSSF returns the visa stamped prospectus via E-file or SOFiE within five working days after reception (electronic visa).

The CSSF also issues the related UCITS attestations in electronic form.

Successful completion of the approval of additional sub-fund(s) of an existing UCITS and the notification of the UCITS for marketing its shares/units in another EU Member State are distinct processes. If a UCITS intends to market its units in another EU Member State, it must follow the specific notification procedures.

If you need to contact the head of the division or the CSSF officer in connection with the application under review, you should contact the department.

This approval process comprises the approval of any amendment to an existing UCITS (i.e. registered on the official list) or of any amendment to one or several of its sub-fund(s).

A non-exhaustive list of examples of amendments falling under this procedure:

• change of management regulations/articles of incorporation;
• change of the registered address;
• corporate actions (e.g. merger, liquidation, spin-off, etc.);
• change in governance of an investment company (board members, conducting persons, others);
• closure of (a) sub-fund(s);
• liquidation of (a) sub-fund (s) or of an existing UCITS;
• change of denomination of a fund and/or sub-fund(s);
• change of investment policy/investment restrictions of a fund and/or sub-fund(s);
• change in the characteristics of the fund and/or sub-funds (fund base currency, sub-fund currency, type of share classes, etc.);
• change of rules in respect of subscriptions or redemptions;
• change of the management company;
• change of a service provider/an agent (domiciliation agent, depositary bank, UCI administrator, asset manager, independent valuer, paying agent, distributors, external auditor, etc.).

The applicant must provide the CSSF with any relevant information for the examination of the request in the form of a detailed letter in the absence of a standardised form. Because of the variety of possible amendments and, hence, the variety of information that changes accordingly, no questionnaire is currently available for provision of the relevant information.

Any request file and appended documents must be submitted together via email to amendments.uci@cssf.lu.

Applicants are advised to file an application only once all components of the project are fully fixed and stable. The transmission of a partial (incomplete) application may prevent the start of the approval process and cause unexpected delays in the examination process.

Useful information is available under Guides intended to provide details in order to constitute a complete and compliant file and to provide further information on expected documents.

The CSSF will acknowledge receipt of the application file within two working days and provide the name of the officer responsible for the examination of the application file by means of an email to the address of the contact person provided in the application questionnaire.

The CSSF will contact the applicant (request for further information and/or supporting documents, supplementary confirmations, clarification of certain aspects of the request…) within ten working days after receiving an application with average complexity and extent.

Complementary information or documents must be submitted via email. The exchange of comments will continue until satisfactory completion of the examination phase.

If the applicant experiences any difficulty in providing further information on specific aspects of the application and does not provide the information requested by the CSSF within a reasonable time limit (maximum one month), the CSSF will contact the applicant to ask whether the application is to be continued or withdrawn.

If the CSSF assessment of the proposed amendment(s) is satisfactory, the CSSF will issue an attestation of approval of the amendments by a letter sent by email.

If the examination of the proposed amendments was performed upon documents in draft versions, the CSSF will inform the applicant by telephone call and request final versions of those documents. The final versions must not differ from the last draft versions submitted for the examination.

Documents subject to a change following the amendments which require signature, such as management regulations, articles of incorporation and agreements must be submitted in signed form.

The prospectus, updated with the amendments, has to be submitted according to the terms of Circular CSSF 19/708. The visa stamped prospectus will be returned by E-file or SOFiE within five working days after reception (electronic visa).

If you need to contact the head of the division or the CSSF officer in connection with the application under review, you should contact the department.

This approval process is only relevant for the conversion of an existing Part II fund or SIF into a UCITS not yet registered on the official list.

Any application file is constituted of the duly completed application questionnaire and of the appended documents and must be submitted together via email to setup.uci@cssf.lu.

Applicants are advised to file an application only once all components of the project are fully fixed and stable. The transmission of a partial (incomplete) application may prevent the start of the approval process and cause delays in the examination process.

Useful information is available under Guides intended to provide details in order to constitute a complete and compliant file and to provide further information on expected documents.

The CSSF will acknowledge receipt of the application file within two working days and provide the name of the officer responsible for the examination of the application file by means of an email to the address of the contact person provided in the application questionnaire.

The CSSF will contact the applicant (request for further information and/or supporting documents, supplementary confirmations, clarification of certain aspects of the request…) within ten working days after receiving an application file with an average complexity. Receiving a more complex or extensive request may lead to contact by the CSSF officer in charge of reviewing the application in order to mutually agree on a specific time frame.

Complementary information or documents must be submitted via email. The exchange of comments will continue until satisfactory completion of the examination phase.

If the applicant experiences difficulty in providing further information on specific aspects of the application and does not provide the information requested by the CSSF within a reasonable time limit (maximum one month), the CSSF will contact the applicant to ask whether the application is to be continued or withdrawn.

If the CSSF makes a decision in favour of the application, an end of examination notice is sent by email to the contact person specified in the application.

This end of examination notice specifies the information and documents in the final and signed-off version that are required to finalise the approval process of the investment fund. The transmission channel for each information or document is also specified.

The end of examination notice also informs the applicant that there are no further changes allowed to the scope and no further alterations allowed to the last draft versions of the constitutive documents on the basis of which the examination has been completed. Any transgression of this understanding will imply a reopening of the examination phase causing delays in the process.

The CSSF stresses that the end of examination notice is the only binding method to notify its positive decision.

Upon satisfactory receipt of the prospectus and all compulsory information and documents requested in the end of examination notice, the CSSF will proceed to the registration of the UCITS on the official list.

In parallel, the CSSF issues an official accreditation letter sent by email, as well as the CSSF identification codes.

The CSSF returns the visa stamped prospectus via E-file or SOFiE within five working days after reception (electronic visa). The CSSF also issues the related UCITS attestations in electronic form.

Successful completion of the approval of a new UCITS and the notification of the UCITS for marketing its shares/units in another EU Member State are distinct processes. If a UCITS intends to market its units in another EU Member State, it must follow the specific notification procedures.

If you need to contact the head of the division or the CSSF officer in connection with the application under review, you should contact the department.

All legal and regulatory documents (including FAQs) can be found in the Regulatory framework section.

All forms can be found in the Publication and Data section.