H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice-President and Prime Minister, and Ruler of Dubai, has enacted, as of 1 August 2006, the Investment Trust Law - DIFC Law No. 5 of 2006, together with the Collective Investment Law Amendment Law (Investment Trust) DIFC Law No. 6 of 2006 and the Regulatory Law Amendment Law (Investment Trust) DIFC Law No. 7 of 2006.
The Investment Trust Law gives persons setting up Collective Investment Funds in the DIFC an additional structure in the form of an Investment Trust. Previously, Domestic Funds which were offered to the public, i.e. Public Funds, could only be structured as an Investment Company or an Investment Partnership. These Funds can now be structured as an Investment Trust. The Investment Trust structure may also be used by Private Domestic Funds.
David Knott DFSA CEO said: “This new Investment Trust Law provides additional flexibility and choice for the structuring of managed funds within the DIFC. Investment Trust vehicles play an important role in capital markets and will contribute to product innovation within the DIFC.”
The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) is an independent, integrated regulatory authority responsible for the regulation of all financial and ancillary services conducted in or from the Centre, including asset management, banking, securities trading, Islamic finance, re-insurance, and an international financial exchange. The DFSA has been created using principle-based primary legislation modelled closely on that used in London and New York, and the DFSA regulatory regime operates to standards that meet or exceed those applying in the world's major financial centres.
The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) is a central component of the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), a new financial centre established to position Dubai as a recognised hub for institutional finance, and the regional gateway for capital and investment to the Middle East.
A number of consequential amendments to the Law, the Regulatory Law 2004 and the Collective Investment Rules of the DFSA Rulebook have been implemented to facilitate the use of the trust structure for collective investments such as the creation of the new Financial Service of “Acting as the Trustee of a Fund”.
Mr. David Knott was appointed Chief Executive of the DFSA on June 1, 2005. He is a former Chairman of the Australian Securities and Investment Commission and was Chairman of the Technical Committee of the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO).
