UCITS passporting in Belgium

EEA Management Companies may exercise passporting rights for the marketing of an EEA UCITS Scheme in Belgium. In order to do so, the requirements of the Belgian law of 3 August 2012 on UCITS (the “Belgian Law”) must be met. 

Passporting of the EEA UCITS Scheme 

In case of public offering of the EEA UCITS Scheme in Belgium, the EEA UCITS Scheme itself needs to be passported and registered with the Belgian regulator, the Belgian Financial Services and Markets Authority (the “Belgian FSMA”). The EEA UCITS Scheme or its EEA Management Company is required to notify their HMSA if they intend on marketing an EEA UCITS Scheme in Belgium. The HMSA will provide their consent notice to the Belgian FSMA. The notification provided to the Belgian FSMA must be accompanied by the EEA UCITS Scheme’s rules or instrument of incorporation, the prospectus, KIID and any annual reports or biannual accounts where applicable. 

Following the transmission of this notification from the HMSA to the Belgian FSMA, the EEA Management Company will be able to market the EEA UCITS Scheme in Belgium. If the EEA Management Company of an EEA UCITS Scheme which is recognised under the Law will only carry on marketing activities related to the authorised EEA UCITS Scheme, without setting-up a branch in Belgium and without proposing other services or carrying out other activities, such EEA Management Company is automatically an authorised person for the purposes of the Belgian Law with permission to market such authorised EEA UCITS Scheme. 

An EEA Management Company proposing to market an EEA UCITS Scheme in Belgium is not required to appoint a paying agent in Belgium but must have facilities at investors’ disposal for payment of distributions and sale and purchase of the units and to enable investors to obtain or inspect the documentation relating to the EEA UCITS Scheme. Details of these facilities must be communicated to the investors on a durable medium prior to any subscription. 

Financial Promotion 

When marketing an EEA UCITS Scheme which is recognised for the purposes of the Belgian Law, the legal rules on financial promotions must be complied with. Belgian advice should be sought in relation to compliance with these rules. 

The Belgian FSMA charges an annual fee for an EEA UCITS Scheme which is currently EUR 2,965 and is due for each compartment. The fee is payable on the submission of the notification to the Belgian FSMA. The Belgian FSMA also charges a fee for the EEA Management Companies. 1  Each year, a global contribution budget for the operating expenses of the Belgian FSMA is fixed and each different category of financial institutions has to participate in a fixed proportion to this budget. The category encompassing all the EEA Management Companies has to contribute with a 2.49 per cent proportion of the global contribution budget. The 2.49 per cent contribution is itself divided between the financial institutions of that category on the basis of criteria such as their regulatory capital, revenues and balance sheet.