Market regulators in Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to enhance the Asean Collective Investment Schemes (CIS) Framework, allowing fund managers to offer a broader range of fund products to investors in the region.
The Securities Commission Malaysia, the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Securities and Exchange Commission of Thailand jointly signed the CIS Framework, enabling fund managers operating in one jurisdiction to offer funds constituted and approved in that jurisdiction to retail investors in the other two under a streamlined authorisation process.
The revised framework, which incorporates feedback from extensive industry consultations, seeks to promote more cross-border offerings of Asean funds.
The new pact took effect on Feb 23. Key enhancements to the framework will enable a wider range of fund managers to participate in the framework by lowering qualifying criteria to US$350 million (11 billion baht) in assets under management from $500 million.
The new framework shortens the time-to-market for the launch of funds, as the signatories have committed to reviewing within 21 calendar days a complete application from fund managers for the authorisation of a fund.
It also gives participating fund managers more flexibility to delegate the investment management of a fund by increasing from 20% to 100% the proportion of the fund's assets that can be sub-managed by a manager that is not regulated by a signatory.
The Asean CIS Framework is one of the initiatives undertaken by the Asean Capital Markets Forum.