UCITS Management companies

Marketing requirements for UCITS

This page contains information on the national laws, regulations and administrative provisions governing the marketing requirements referred to in Article 5(1) of Regulation (EU) 2019/1156 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on facilitating cross-border distribution of collective investment undertakings.

The information is based on Annex I of the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/955. Entry into force of the Regulations in the EEA EFTA States is pending entry into force of Joint Committee Decision (JCD) incorporating the acts into the EEA Agreement.

Marketing of foreign UCITS in Norway

Foreign securities funds domiciled in a state party to the EEA Agreement and covered by the UCITS Directive (Council Directive 2009/65/EEC) may be marketed in Norway subject to notification to Finanstilsynet pursuant to Act of 25 November 2011 No. 44 on Securities Funds section 9-3.

"Marketing of units in securities funds" is regarded as inviting or soliciting the acquisition of rights in a securities fund. Only invitation or solicitation that is intended, or especially likely, to have effect in Norway is regarded as marketing.

There are no exceptions from rules or requirements governing arrangements made for marketing applicable for certain UCITS, certain share classes or certain categories of investors.

Requirements regarding notification

UCITS established in another EEA state may be marketed in Norway once the supervisory authority in the UCITS' home state has given Finanstilsynet notification of marketing in accordance with the Securities Funds Act section 9-3. The notification shall include the version currently in effect of the following documents:

• Standard notification letter to be completed by the fund/management company (Annex I to Commission Regulation No 584/2010): Notification letter (pdf)
• UCITS attestation issued by the home state's supervisory authority (Annex II to Commission Regulation No 584/2010)
• Articles of association
• Prospectus
• Key Investor Information Document (KIID)
• Latest annual report and, if applicable, half-yearly report

Translations

The above documentation may be submitted in Norwegian, English, Swedish or Danish, with the exception of KIID, which shall be submitted in Norwegian. The KIID may be submitted in English provided that the fund has a minimum subscription amount corresponding to NOK 5 million, or if the fund will be marketed to institutional investors on an individual basis only and without use of advertising or the like. If the fund wishes to make use of this exemption, the part B of the notification letter shall include a statement that the fund meets the abovementioned conditions, and that the fund in the future will not be marketed towards private individuals and households.

Details of the notification procedure

The supervisory authority in the UCITS' home state shall, not later than 10 days after receipt of complete documentation, transmit this documentation to Finanstilsynet. Once it has transmitted the documentation to Finanstilsynet, the supervisory authority in the UCITS' home state shall immediately inform the UCITS of this fact. The UCITS may be marketed in Norway once it has been informed by the home state supervisory authority that transmission of the documentation has taken place.

Finanstilsynet will, not later than five days after receipt of the notification letter with documentation, confirm to the host state's supervisory authority that documentation in accordance with the Securities Funds Act section 9-3 has been received.

Format, maximum file size etc.

Finanstilsynet accepts electronic notifications with enclosures of up to 30 MB. We recommend that notifications be submitted in the following file formats:

• PDF document
• Microsoft Office documents

Zipped formats will be accepted.

Cross-border marketing fees and charges from 1 January 2024

For each new UCITS (or compartment thereof) notified for marketing pursuant to the EEA passporting regime (UCITS art. 93), that is managed by a non-Norwegian UCITS management company, a one-time registration fee of NOK 5 000 will be billed via email by The Norwegian Agency for Public and Financial Management (Direktoratet for forvaltning og økonomistyring/DFØ) after the notification is registered. There are no additional fees for regulatory filing and change notifications.

In addition, The Norwegian National Collection Agency (Statens innkrevingssentral/SI) may bill the non-Norwegian UCITS management company that markets UCITS (UCITS art. 93) per 31 December 2023, an annual fee of up to NOK 10 000 in May 2024. If the management company has a LEI code in Finanstilsynet's registry, the annual bill will by default be sent to the registered headquarters address in the global LEI database. Marketed UCITS may be deregistered from Finanstilsynet's registry if a bill is not paid.

Finanstilsynet urges you to check the information in the registry at www.finanstilsynet.no/en/finanstilsynets-registry/. If there are any errors or Legal Entity Identifiers (LEIs) that are missing, please send an email to Fondsdokumentasjon@finanstilsynet.no. If you wish to deregister, please let us know (through your national competent authority (NCA) if applicable).

If you have any questions regarding fees and billing, please send an email to post@finanstilsynet.no. 

Other requirements

Sales in Norway of units of the UCITS must take place directly from the head office of the manager of the securities fund, through a representative office in Norway or through a management company holding a licence under the Securities Funds Act sections 2-1, 3-3 or 3-4, a credit institution entitled to engage in financing activity in Norway, an insurance company entitled to engage in insurance activity in Norway or an investment firm entitled to provide investment services in Norway.

The UCITS shall in accordance with the Securities Funds Act make such arrangements as are necessary for the purpose of making payments to the unit holders, redeeming units and providing such information as is required in the fund's home state as regards prospectuses, KIID, annual and interim reports and the making public of the value of units.

All marketing in Norway offering sales of units of the UCITS shall make reference to the availability of the prospectus and the KIID and point out where these documents are available. The part B of the notification letter shall therefore include a statement that such information will be provided and included in all marketing material that will be offered to Norwegian investors.

The fund's articles of association, prospectus, KIID, annual report and half-yearly report shall be made available to Finanstilsynet on the management company's website in a format in common use. Finanstilsynet shall be notified of any changes made to the above documents and, at the same time, details of where the documents are electronically available. Finanstilsynet shall also be notified before any changes are made in the marketing of the funds or in the event of changes regarding the fund's share classes.

Where the marketing of a UCITS in Norway ceases, Finanstilsynet shall be notified. The notification letter shall be signed by an authorised signatory of the securities fund or a third person empowered to act on the fund's behalf. The notification shall contain confirmation that the unit holders' interests will be safeguarded.

Standard notification letters and notification letters regarding changes in marketing or unit classes or regarding cessation of marketing shall be sent electronically to ucits.notifications@finanstilsynet.no.

Laws and regulations

Marketing requirements for UCITS are regulated by the Norwegian Act of 25 November 2011 No. 44 on Securities Funds. Additional rules are set out in the Norwegian Regulation of 21 December 2011 No. 1467 to the Securities Funds Act. Laws and regulations are available in their entirety (in Norwegian) at www.lovdata.no. The Securities Funds Act and the Regulation to the Securities Funds Act are also available at this website.  

Disclaimer: Finanstilsynet has taken reasonable care to ensure that the information on the national provisions governing the marketing requirements for UCITS in Norway included on this webpage is up-to-date and complete. Finanstilsynet is not responsible for maintaining external websites and is not liable for any error or omission on any external website to which hyperlinks are provided on this webpage.

Other requirements 

In addition to the provisions referred to above, which are set out specifically for the marketing of UCITS, there may be other legal provisions that may apply when marketing them in Norway, although they are not specifically designed for the marketing of UCITS, depending on the individual situation of those involved in the marketing of shares or units of UCITS. Marketing in Norway may trigger the application of other requirements, such as general rules regarding marketing as well as general principles of contract law.