Regulations
By Dan Saada
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Three Scenarios, One Common Thread. Closed-ended investment funds are a bit of an odd structure.
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Retail Investors Get Guidance Too. It's not just rule changes. The FCA is also publishing examples of good practice alongside the…
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What the FCA Is Trying to Protect. The integrity of boards is a big part of this. If a substantial shareholder can effectively…
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The UK's Financial Conduct Authority wants to rewrite the rulebook on conflict of interest for closed-ended investment funds.
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The FCA dropped a consultation paper recently, and the core of it is straightforward: the current UK Listing Rules for closed-ended funds have gaps.
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Jon Relleen from the FCA put it plainly. The proposed adjustments are designed to ensure minimal conflicts of interest — and he framed that as crucial for market functionality,…
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Closed-ended investment funds are a bit of an odd structure. They're listed companies, but they're also investment vehicles.
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The FCA's review started in March. It's been stress-testing hypothetical scenarios — a kind of pressure-check on the existing framework — to find where the rules break down.
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First: when a new investment manager gets appointed, the same protections that cover existing managers should apply. That's not always the case right now.
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The FCA's broader worry is that minority shareholders end up exposed. If the rules let big players — whether they're large shareholders or the managers themselves — push through…
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Related: CACEIS UK Pays £31.7M Over WealthTek Failures as FCA Secures £57M Total
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That's a meaningful addition. Governance rights on paper don't do much if investors don't know how to act on them.
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The consultation itself is open until August 14, 2026. After that, the FCA wants to finalize the rules by the end of the year.
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The integrity of boards is a big part of this. If a substantial shareholder can effectively hand-pick board members and those directors then oversee the investment manager —…
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And the fee question matters too. When investment manager contracts are up for renegotiation, or when strategies shift, the protections around those decisions need to apply…
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