SICAV
SICAV is the abbreviation of the French term société d'investissement à capital variable or the Italian term società di investimento a capitale variabile and designates an investment company with variable share capital established under French, Belgian, Luxembourg , Swiss , Maltese , Spanish or Italian law .
In contrast to the share capital of a stock corporation (AG), the company's share capital is not rigid, but fluctuates depending on the capital invested. It is understood from the principle that a SICAV new always share the net asset value may issue and thus increased its share capital. The downside of this is the shareholder's right at any time to be able to return shares to the SICAV at their net asset value. This in turn reduces the company's capital. Because of these entry and exit options, a SICAV is also referred to as an open collective investment scheme, in contrast to a closed collective investment scheme.
The purpose of a SICAV is limited to investing the company's capital in securities in order to use the principle of risk diversification . It is comparable to a German investment stock corporation with variable capital (§ 108 ff. KAGB). The SICAV is regulated under Luxembourg law by the law of December 17, 2010 on undertakings for collective investment and the law of February 13, 2007 on special funds (Special Fund Act). For Switzerland these are Federal Act on Collective Investment Schemes of 23 June 2006 (Collective Investment Schemes Act, CISA) and its regulations relevant.
In contrast to a German capital investment company or a Swiss investment fund , the SICAV is not a special fund, but an independent legal entity. A SICAV has its own administration, consisting at least of the board of directors . Normally, day-to-day operations are outsourced to an investment manager and an administrator (or other service company). In this constellation, the Board of Directors mainly controls the external service providers. Only a tiny number of SICAVs employ salaried staff.
As a so-called umbrella fund, a SICAV can have several sub- funds. These are legally independent insofar as investors only participate in the subfund in which they have invested and the insolvency of one subfund does not affect the other subfunds . However, all sub-funds are under the control of the Board of Directors of the SICAV.
A type of company related to the SICAV is the SICAF société d'investissement à capital fixe . In contrast to the SICAV, the SICAF under Swiss law is formally a stock corporation under the Code of Obligations , for which the Collective Investment Schemes Act provides special, more extensive provisions. Your capital is therefore not variable, but fixed, as in a stock corporation.
In addition to the SICAV and the SICAF, under Luxembourg law there is also the rarely found form of the SICAR ( sociétés d'investissement en capital à risque ), which is important for special tasks in venture capital financing.
See also
credentials
- ↑ The new Collective Investment Schemes Act - Strengthening the Swiss Financial Center ( page can no longer be accessed , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ SR Federal Law on Collective Investment Schemes, SICAV
- ↑ Art. 84 i. V. m. Art. 70 para. 3 lit. a and b Companies Act of Malta
- ^ SR Federal Act on Collective Investment Schemes, SICAF
- ↑ SR 951.312 Ordinance of the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority on collective investment schemes, Art. 61 Investment company with fixed capital (SICAF), valuation
