UCITS passporting in the Czech Republic

1. EEA UCITS Scheme 

EEA Management Companies may exercise passporting rights for the marketing of an EEA UCITS Scheme in the Czech Republic provided that the requirements of Act No. 240 / 2013 Coll., on Management Companies and Investment Funds are met. Public offering of an EEA UCITS Scheme is allowed only if the Czech National Bank (“CNB”) was duly notified by HMSA and if the EEA UCITS Scheme fulfilled the conditions for marketing to the public, i.e. the provision of information to investors, service for investors and public administration including operation of a point of contact facility.  

Notification is not required in the case of the limited marketing of investments in an EEA UCITS Scheme that does not reach the intensity of public marketing (private placement). Nor is notification required in the case of a foreign standard master fund (master UCITS) if it collects funds in the Czech Republic only from subordinate standard funds (feeder UCITSs). Notification is also not required if the investor makes the decision to invest in an EEA UCITS Scheme on their own initiative (reverse solicitation). 

Notification 

Public offering of investments into an EEA UCITS Scheme must be carried out by a licensed Czech or an EEA Management Company.  An EEA Management Company seeking to passport its authorisation to offer an EEA UCITS Scheme in the Czech Republic is required to notify their HMSA which will notify the CNB thereof within 10 working days of the receipt of the complete notification letter (unless specified otherwise under the home member state rules) . The EEA Management Company must submit the notification letter along with fund rules / instruments of incorporation if they are not part of the prospectus, the latest existing annual or biannual report, the key investor information document (KIIDs) and a proof of payment of the administrative fee. The notification letter itself may be submitted in English, the KIIDs must be attached in Czech, whereas the fund rules / instruments of incorporation and the prospectus, the latest existing annual or biannual report may be attached in English, Czech or Slovak. 

Marketing in the Czech Republic may commence as soon as the HMSA has informed the EEA Management Company that its notification has been transmitted to the CNB. 

Marketing and point of contact facility  

If units of an EEA UCITS Scheme are publicly marketed in the Czech Republic, the EEA Management Company must ensure a point of contact facility for communication with the relevant bodies. However, its physical presence is not required. The contact with investors and public administration can be ensured by means of remote communication. Information about the EEA UCITS Scheme must be published on the EEA UCITS Scheme website accessible to Czech investors in Czech. The language regime for the provision of information is further regulated by Decree of CNB No. 244/2013 Coll., on further rules of Act on Management Companies and Investment Funds and allows to publish documents additionally in another language. 

When marketing the units of an EEA UCITS Scheme to the public, it is necessary to comply with the rules governing promotion (Article 4 of the Regulation)  1 Regulation (EU) 2019/1156 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on facilitating cross-border distribution of collective investment undertakings and amending Regulations (EU) No 345/2013, (EU) No 346/2013 and (EU) No 1286/2014. , as well as complying with the Czech Consumer Protection Act and the Czech Advertising Act. Marketing materials do not need to be sent to the CNB in advance. The CNB does not check, approve or give consent to their use before the start of marketing of an EEA UCITS Scheme in the Czech Republic 

If any party other than the EEA Management Company markets the EEA UCITS Scheme in the Czech Republic, they would be considered to be providing investment services. In that event, a license to perform relevant investment services in the Czech Republic is required. 

Pre-marketing of UCITS is currently not permitted. However, this might change in the future 

2. Fees 

There is currently a fee in the amount of CZK 10,000 (approx. EUR 400) applied by the CNB in respect of registration of a foreign standard fund in the list maintained by CNB in connection with the notification procedure and marketing of an EEA UCITS Scheme in the Czech Republic. The registration shall then last until the end of the calendar year following the calendar year in which the fee has been paid and you may need to pay a renewal fee.