MENA Asset Management Survey 2012 - National Bank of Abu Dhabi

Regulatory Trends
Regulatory Perspective
Dr. Ryan Lemand – Senior Economic Advisor &
Acting Head of Risk Management
Securities & Commodities Authority
Q/ Please provide a brief overview of SCA
activities regarding supervision of funds.
A/ The Securities & Commodities Authority (SCA) is
the competent body for licensing investment funds in
accordance with the terms and conditions already
stipulated in article (5) of the regulation of investment
funds. The SCA is also responsible for ensuring the
application of the rules provided in the regulation and for monitoring the activities of
licensed funds while practicing their role according to the obligations set forth in the
regulation.
Q/ In SCA Board decision number 37 of 2012 concerning the regulation of mutual
funds, what was the reason for excluding applicability to certain investment/fund
products in article 2 ?
A/ To clarify what constitute a mutual fund the regulation define such term in Article 1. To
further minimize potential doubts on what is treated as mutual fund, Article 2 list typical
money management arrangements that could fall under the letter of the definition, but
are not mutual funds.
The regulation of the investment funds comprehensively sets out the necessary
conditions that should be present in order to classify the fund as an investment fund, as
follows:
- Collecting funds from investors
- Collecting funds for the purpose of investment
- Issuing fund units to investors on equitable basis by investment value and rights
Therefore, if a fund lacks any one of these conditions, it is not considered an investment
fund by SCA.
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