Reduction of administrative burden on investment funds and more favourable environment for their activities in Lithuania, and at the same time, creation of better possibilities of business financing and greater opportunities for investors is the main goal of the draft laws on collective investment undertakings (CIU) which the Ministry of Finance submitted to the Government.
“New draft laws will have positive effects on business climate and its development in Lithuania, as the new, much more explicit and flexible regulation will create more favourable environment for the CIU development in our country and will contribute to reinforcement of the competitiveness of Lithuania“, said Minister of Finance Vilius Šapoka.
In 2017 the Ministry of Finance together with the Bank of Lithuania carried out a regulatory review of collective investment undertakings, assessed the best regulatory practices in investment funds of the EU countries and market players’ suggestions, and submitted appropriate draft laws to the Government. This is one of the measures for ensuring the development of alternative financing sources under the Government Programme Implementation Plan.
The draft laws propose to simplify the processes for licensing and authorisation for the CIU managers (management companies and investment manager companies), to regulate the activities of loan origination funds, to facilitate the decision making process in investment companies. Also, to open up wider opportunities for investment companies and investment funds to market their products in Lithuania and to expand the list of entities which are eligible to act as custodians.
Collective investment undertaking – an investment fund or investment company aimed at accumulating funds of individuals by the public offer of units or shares and their collective investment in assets by spreading out risk following the predefined investment requirements.
