Home / Europe / United Kingdom / Funds

Funds

CMS is a leading funds law firm in the UK and major European and other markets. We provide expert advice to fund managers and investors internationally at every stage of the funds lifecyle across assets classes and fund types. Market, legal, tax and regulatory conditions are fast changing and expertise, experience and commercial advice are essential.

The CMS Funds Group has in-depth experience and expertise to deliver your objectives in a practical and commercial manner for:

  • all funds and investment vehicles whether open or closed-ended, institutional or regional, private or listed, partnership or corporate, regulated or unregulated, we support you from planning and launch through investment, governance, and restructuring to exit and end of fund arrangements;
  • all fund related activities: we advise on structuring and establishing the fund, investor advice, management arrangements, carry structuring, debt finance, fund mergers and restructuring and secondary transfers;
  • the regulatory and tax requirements which shape a fund: we provide advice on issues including tax changes, new vehicles, financial regulation such as AIFMD, environmental, social and governance (ESG), tokenisation and AI; and
  • strategy and investment for performance across sectors through our sector-driven approach: whether you are investing in real estate, venture capital, private equity, credit, infrastructure, energy and clean energy, transport, life science & healthcare and pharmaceuticals, and TMC, we have sector experts at hand.

'Top in knowledge, top in delivery, top in everything that could be important.'

Our Funds team is top ranked in Chambers UK and Legal 500

Find out more

Buildings icon

Our experience: 
Real estate transactions 
and JVs

Chart icon

Our experience: 
Private funds

Our experience: 
Investors

CMS Global Funds Group
The international funds industry is changing at unprecedented speed. Concerns...
CMS Funds Group Regulatory Tracker
The CMS Funds Group Regulatory Tracker is a horizon scanning tool, capturing...
Focusing on Funds
Keeping our clients abreast of developments in the funds industry…

Feed

18/03/2024
Financial Services Webinars On Demand
Click here to view recordings of CMS financial services we­binars avail­able on de­mand. We­binars are a convenient way to stay informed and hear from our legal experts. medium
06/03/2024
Spring Budget 2024 – key tax announcements
Against the backdrop of an election (probably) later this year, the Chancellor was evidently feeling the pressure to make tax announcements that would find favour with the electorate, whilst constrained...
06/03/2024
FCA sends Dear CEO letter to firms in warning over money laundering failings
The Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) has sent a Dear CEO letter (the “Letter”) to Annex 1 Firms warning them about common failings found in their ability to prevent money laundering, terrorist...
04/03/2024
Popular investment vehicles in the UK and offshore jurisdictions
Updated on December 2023 Investment vehicle UK Limited Partnership [Private Fund Limited Partnership]UK Unauthorised Exempt Property Unit TrustOpen-Ended Investment Company (OEIC)Authorised Contractual...
Comparable
01/03/2024
Digital Assets
Does your business have or is it ready for digitalisation and digital assets? Digital assets are transforming the world of business. Not just technologies in the news, like AI and crypto currencies, but a whole world of technological advances, from digital twins and extended reality to smart contracts and token­isa­tion. For tech businesses and those already using such technology to develop and market new products, much of this is core activity and relatively well understood – although legal and regulatory uncertainties remain, and potential pitfalls still exist for the unwary. But other business leaders, often less familiar with the territory, have to manage an increasingly complex assortment of issues that never troubled their predecessors, ranging from protecting their brand in the metaverse to deciding whether they should tokenise their shares or accept payments in crypto currencies. This section of Bandwidth looks at issues around the development and regulation of a wide variety of digital assets, and discusses how businesses can embrace them to innovate and evolve.
29/02/2024
UK FCA proposals to publicly announce investigations could be detrimental...
With every new director of enforcement and market oversight at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), there is a step change in the way the regulator approaches enforcement cases.Under the FCA's former...
20/02/2024
Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023: changes expected to...
From Spring 2024 we expect the role of Companies House and the Registrar of Companies (Registrar) to change significantly from simply incorporating companies and being a largely passive information recipient...
19/02/2024
Financial Services Webinars On Demand
Use the below link to view recordings of CMS financial services we­binars avail­able on de­mand. We­binars are a convenient way to stay informed and hear from our legal ex­perts. me­di­um 
09/02/2024
ESMA reports on impact-washing concerns around funds focused on the United...
IntroductionOn 1 February 2024, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published an article on the efficiency of funds focused on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)...
08/02/2024
UK government publishes delayed update on AI policy
The UK government has published its delayed response to the consultation accompanying its March 2023 white paper on artificial intelligence (AI). It had been expected by the end of September 2023, but...
08/01/2024
Switzerland and the UK sign agreement on mutual recognition in financial...
On 21 December 2023, the Swiss Federal Council and HM Treasury in the UK announced the signing of an agreement on mutual recognition in specific areas of financial services between Switzerland and the UK referred to as the Berne Financial Services Agreement (the Agreement). The conclusion of this ground-breaking Agreement is the culmination of more than two years of negotiations following the signing of a Joint Statement on 30 June 2020 aiming at enhancing cooperation in financial services between Switzerland and the UK. 
05/01/2024
Private placement rules and law in the United Kingdom
1. Summary of private placement provisions for fund interests (if applicable) The UK private placement regime is set out at Chapter 3, Part 6 of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Regulations 2013...