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International Fund Structuring Law Firm

CMS offers expert advice at every stage of the funds lifecycle – from planning and launch through governance, restructuring and exit.

The international funds industry is changing at unprecedented speed. Concerns about the environment, sustainability and governance are changing the way many funds work and invest. Asset tokenisation, blockchain, fintech and artificial intelligence (AI) have huge disruptive potential, as do innovative alternative indirect investment vehicles and alternative asset classes. And, inevitably, the regulatory and tax environment for funds continues to evolve.

Whether you are launching, operating, lending to or investing in a fund or an alternative indirect investment vehicle, you need lawyers who have got your back, and who understand not only your business and your requirements, but also the funds landscape and its markets:

CMS ESG Compass
Asset managers are faced with multiple challenges and significant regulatory...
21/05/2024
Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA): Impact on the funds sector
The Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) is a transformative force in the funds sector, reshaping the relationships between financial entities, financial markets and ICT providers to achieve greater digital resilience. 2024 stands as a pivotal year for DORA’s implementation since the Act will come into effect in January 2025. Our CMS Funds experts are sharing insights on the challenges and key components of this transformation in our upcoming video series, covering the following key components:
Publication
05/01/2024
CMS Expert Guide to private placement of funds rules and law
 When implementing the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (“AIFMD”), some EU States have tightened or severely restricted their private placement regimes, which is important when non EU managers and funds look to access EU investors. Our
Expert Guide Funds
29/12/2023
CMS Expert Guide to UCITS passporting
 The UCITS Directive was established to harmonise retail collective investment schemes in the EU through the introduction of a common investment vehicle known as a “UCITS”. One of the key benefits of the UCITS Directive is that UCITS can be establish
Expert Guide Funds
23/05/2024
Back to Basics briefings - New briefing added!
CMS Funds Group Back to Basics briefings intend to provide high level insights regarding funds fundamentals, funds vehicles and operational considerations New briefings are published on a regular basis, covering a specific jurisdiction or topic, and providing basic essential technical explanations.
Publication
04/03/2024
CMS Expert Guide to popular investment vehicles
The selection of a vehicle has a number of common themes including the location of the assets, management and the investors. Funds targeted at local investors and markets will frequently involve suitable local vehicles. The position changes where the
Expert Guide Funds
Comparable
05/01/2024
CMS Expert Guide to AIFM passporting
 The EU Commission promoted passporting rights as one of the key benefits for hedge, private equity, real estate and other alternative investment fund managers authorised under the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (“AIFMD”). How­ever, we
Expert Guide Funds
10/07/2023
Impact of AI & Technology on the Funds sector
AI & Technology are disrupting the investment funds sector, and laws and regulations are being amended to move towards a more digital environment for financial institutions, asset managers and investors.
Publication
Sustainable Investment
ESG has disrupted the funds sector, yet it does impact it in many different ways. The issues that you face as investment funds manager or institutional investor depend on many factors: the evolution of the regulatory landscape; and the readiness of y

A complete service

  • We advise on all the key asset classes, including private equity, real estate, infrastructure, hedge, venture capital and debt, as well as across private, listed and authorised funds
  • Our expertise is allied with industry specialism, including energy, real estate, life sciences and healthcare, hotels and leisure, infrastructure and project finance and financial institutions
  • We offer clients a ‘one-stop shop’ service, leveraging various CMS practices such as tax, regulatory, private equity, venture capital, real estate, technology, employment, dispute resolution and finance
  • Our real estate funds practice advises on some of the market’s largest fundraisings, clubs and indirect investments
  • We are the market leader for REITs and closed-ended listed funds, with our team advising on IPOs, private REITs and secondary fund raisings
  • We have a stand-out open-ended and UCITS funds offering.

Industry players

  • Our lawyers play a leading role in complex conversations – such as the role of tokenisation and AI – which are shaping the future of the funds sector
  • Through our strong ties with industry organisations (IPF, AREF, INREV, BCO, BPF, LPeC, BVCA, EPRA, IA, and ABBL) we are at the forefront of conversations on the most pressing topics affecting the international and local funds industries.

A global reach

Our clients entrust us with exclusive mandates to advise their multi-manager teams on their investments globally. We have over 130 specialised funds lawyers in core funds jurisdictions:

Other jurisdictions we are active in: Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, Colombia, Hungary, Hong Kong, Poland, Mauritius, Norway, Romania, Ukraine, US regulatory.

Work credentials

 The quality of our work is recognised by awards, rankings, and landmark deals such as:

  • 20 Rankings in Legal 500 and Chambers, including Tier 1 for Real Estate Investments Funds (UK), Retail Investment Funds (UK), Investment Funds (Scotland), and Investment Funds (Poland)
  • 1st French fund invested in crypto assets
  • 1st real estate club-deal through blockchain in Europe
  • 1st corporate venture capital fund in Poland to commercialise new tech startups
  • 1st Italian credit fund specialised in the business of trade receivables
  • Adviser to innovation projects submitted to the 1st Spanish sandbox
  • Affiliate of the Year Award 2019 - AREF (Association of Real Estate Funds)

CMS Funds Group is getting recognition as a top tier funds firm in Europe and Asia, growing globally by providing a “one international firm” coordinated, consistently excellent funds platform.

Find out more

CMS Funds Group Directory rankings

CMS Funds Global Brochure
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07/10/2024
ECLA General Counsel Forum Europe 2024
We are excited to announce that, following the great conference in 2023, we are once again proud to be the headline sponsor of ECLA's General Counsel Forum 2024! This prestigious event, taking place in Berlin on 7 and 8 October at the Maritim proArte Hotel Berlin, will bring together top legal professionals from across Europe to discuss the latest trends and challenges in corporate law. The Forum offers a unique opportunity for networking, professional development and engagement with leading experts. For more information please go to: https://ecla. on­line/events/for­um2024/
Event Artificial Intelligence
06/10/2024
ACC Annual Meeting 2024 US
Meet our experts at booth #532
Event Legal
24/09/2024
The taxing question of carried interest
This article previously appeared in Thomson Reuters Regulatory In­tel­li­gence­Whilst it is a political decision as to how carried interest is taxed, there is some confusion in the Treasury’s suggestion...
Law-Now Funds
15/09/2024
CMS - Meet our experts at International Bar Association (IBA) Annual Conference
Located between the USA and South America, Mexico has a rich history and is the largest Spanish-speaking country in the world. With a population of almost 130 million, a rich cultural history and diversity, and abundant natural resources, Mexico is the world's 11th largest economy and a significant financial centre in the Americas. Mexico City is home to a diverse range of businesses across multiple industries. The city is a significant financial centre, and is the headquarters for many international businesses, banks and financial institutions. It is also home to a thriving technology industry, with start-ups and established tech companies in the city. Located at the crossroads of the Americas and taking place in such a bustling economic and financial centre, Mexico City will be an exceptional host for the IBA Annual Conference. CMS lawyers are pleased to be attending. Below you can find an overview of our partners attending the IBA Annual Conference, representing a range of jurisdictions, practice areas and sector specialisms. To arrange a meeting, please contact Mariana Calvo mariana. calvo@cms-wll. com and copy Melania Kozyra Melania. Kozyra@cmslegal. com and Jorge Almeida jorge. al­meida@cmsleg­al. com
Event Legal
12/09/2024
Back in Gear: CMS European M&A Outlook 2025
We are pleased to share with you the 2025 edition of the European M&A Outlook, published by CMS in association with Mergermarket.
Publication
09/09/2024
UK Tax Disputes Digest (Summer 2024)
Welcome to the Summer 2024 edition of our UK Tax Disputes Digest: a high-level summary of key developments in contentious tax over the last few months for heads of tax, finance directors, general counsel...
Law-Now Energy & Climate Change
16/08/2024
New Investment Management Exemption regime in Italy - Scope and comparative...
Italy recently introduced an Investment Management Exemption regime (IME) which provides a protective framework to ensure that foreign investment vehicles (and directly or indirectly controlled entities)...
Law-Now Funds
08/08/2024
The new CBUAE Payment Token Services Regulation: 10 things you need to...
In June 2024, the Central Bank of the UAE (“CBUAE”), the supervisory and regulatory authority of the banking and insurance sector within the United Arab Emirates (“UAE”), published the long awaited...
Regzone Banking & Finance
06/08/2024
The ESAs provide additional clarifications under SFDR
On 25 July 2024, the European Supervisory Authorities (the “ESAs”) published an updated version of the consolidated questions and answers (the “Q&As”) on the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation[1]...
Law-Now Investment Funds
01/08/2024
Financial Services Webinars On Demand
View recordings of CMS financial services webinars available on demand.Webinars are a convenient way to stay informed and hear from our legal experts.Webinars On Demandmedium
Regzone Banking & Finance
01/08/2024
ESMA’s long-term vision on the functioning of the Sustainable Finance Framework
A few weeks after the publication of the European Supervisory Authorities’ (the “ESAs”) joint opinion on the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (the “SFDR”)[1], the European Securities...
Law-Now Investment Funds
31/07/2024
DORA batch 2 is here!
ESAs published second batch of policy products under DORA On a quick review our points to flag are:On the controversial Threat Lead Penetration Testing we now have clarity of the financial entities who are required to undertake TLPTOn incident reporting, the ESAs have streamlined the information required in the initial reports with a view to reducing administrative reporting burden in the first 24 hours of an ICT-related incident occurring. Welcome!Also on incident reporting, there are new time limits for notifications, as these have been modified in the final draft. In particular, the intermediate reports are now required to be submitted within 72 hours of the initial notification, even where the classification or handling of the incident has not changed. Where activities have recovered, this intermediate report is to be submitted “without undue delay”. Changes in timelines worth careful review by financial entities. We now have the sub-contracting RTS but this was delayed and was only published on 26 July 2024. See below for more details.
Publication
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