Practical Issues Faced by U.S.-Based Managers When Establishing U.K.-Listed Funds (Part One of Two)

U.K.-listed closed-end funds have become an increasingly popular source of permanent capital for the global asset management industry. Used for all manner of investment strategies, these vehicles are ideally suited for illiquid strategies such as private equity, and have also been used as feeder funds into single-manager hedge funds. Over the past several years, U.S.-based managers have been coming to London for the relatively greater regulatory flexibility offered by the U.K.-listed funds markets as compared to U.S. public securities markets. In a two-part guest series, Tim West and Dinesh Banani, partners at Herbert Smith Freehills, provide a practical overview of key issues facing U.S.-based managers considering establishing a fund listed in the U.K. This first article explores listing and eligibility requirements for popular U.K. listing venues; continuing obligations for U.K.-listed funds; structuring and jurisdictional considerations; and marketing under the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive. The second article will consider the impact of certain U.S. securities laws that would apply to the U.K. listing of the shares of a closed-end fund offered by a U.S.-based manager. See also “Regulatory and Practitioner Perspectives on Alternative Mutual Fund Compliance Risk” (Feb. 26, 2015).

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