Federal Commission on Securities and the Capital Market of the Government of
the Russian Federation.
Regulation No. 2
On Procedures for Registering the Rules of Unit Investment Funds and Prospectuses for Issues
of Investment Units of Unit Investment Funds.
January 11, 1996
(Note: This text is not to be considered an official
translation of this regulation.)
In accordance with Decree No. 765 of the President of
the Russian Federation, "On Measures to Raise
the Effectiveness of the Investment Policy of the Russian
Federation," the Federal Commission on Securities
and the Capital Market of the Russian Federation resolves:
1. To approve the attached Regulation on Procedures
for Registering the Rules of Unit Investment Funds
and Prospectuses for Issues of Investment Units of
Unit Investment Funds.
2. To introduce the following changes to the Standard
Rules of an Interval Unit Investment Fund, as confirmed
by Regulation No. 14 of the Federal Commission on Securities
and the Capital Market of the Government of the Russian
Federation (October 1, 1995):
In Paragraph 3, Clause 4, the words "distribution
price" are to be replaced by the words "redemption
price."
In Footnote 9, the word "open" is to be replaced
by the word "interval."
3. To introduce the following changes to the Standard
Prospectus for an Issue of Investment Units, as confirmed
by Regulation 15 of the Federal Commission on Securities
and the Capital Market of the Government of the Russian
Federation (October 18, 1995):
In Paragraph 4, Clause 80, the words "distribution
price" are to be replaced by the words "redemption
price."
Regulation On Procedures for Registering the Rules of
Unit Investment Funds
and Prospectuses for Issues of Investment Units of Unit
Investment Funds
This Regulation defines procedures for accepting and
registering the rules of unit investment funds and
prospectuses for issues of investment units of unit
investment funds in accordance with Decree No. 765
of the President of the Russian Federation, "On
Additional Measures to Raise the Effectiveness of the
Investment Policy of the Russian Federation" (July
26, 1995).
1. The following terms are used in this Regulation:
"Federal Commission" -- the Federal Commission
on Securities and the Capital Market of the Government
of the Russian Federation;
"Management Company" -- the management company
in whose trust management the property of an interval
unit investment fund is held;
"Specialized Depository" -- the Specialized
Depository of unit investment funds, which engages
in its activities on the basis of a license issued
by the Federal Commission;
"Fund" -- an open or interval unit investment
fund;
"Issue Prospectus" -- the prospectus for an
issue of investment units of an open or interval unit
investment fund;
"Rules of the Fund" -- rules of an open or
interval unit investment fund;
"Investment Unit" -- a registered security
attesting to the right of its holder to demand from
the management company redemption of his investment
unit in accordance with the rules of the fund.
2. Only management companies which have been granted
licenses by the Federal Commission to exercise trust
management of fund assets have the right to redeem
investment units.
3. Registration of the rules of funds and of issues
prospectuses is carried out by the Federal Commission.
4. Distribution of investment units without registering
the fund rules and the issue prospectus with the Federal
Commission is forbidden.
5. Investment units can be issued in one of the following
forms:
- Registered certificated investment units;
- Registered uncertificated investment units.
Investment units in certificated form are issued only
on the basis of a special decision of the Federal Commission,
to be made on a case-by-case basis.
The type of fund (open or interval unit investment fund)
selected by the Management Company in accordance with
requirements of acts of the Federal Commission and
the form of issuing investment units must be specified
in the fund rules and the issue prospectus.
A failure by the Management Company to fulfill the indicated
requirements serves as grounds for a refusal to register
the fund rules and the issue prospectus.
An investment unit does not have a nominal value. Interest
and dividends are not accrued to investment units and
are not to be paid.
6. An investment unit is a registered security attesting
to the right of its holder to demand from the Management
Company redemption of his investment unit in accordance
with fund rules. Each investment unit provides its
holder with the same quantity of rights.
The rights of holders of investment units are recorded
in the register of holders of investment units of the
Fund. Credit and debit entries in the personal accounts
of holders of investment units are introduced into
the register of holders of investment units in accordance
with the Temporary Regulation on the Maintenance of
a Register of Holders of Investment Units of a Unit
Investment Fund, approved by a resolution of the Federal
Commission, and with the fund rules.
Extracts from the register of holders of investment
units of a fund (if investment units are uncertificated)
or certificates of investment units (if investment
units are certificated) are issued to the holders of
investment units only after the introduction of the
corresponding entry into the personal account of the
holders of investment units into the register of holders
of investment units of the fund.
7. The procedure for accepting and registering fund
rules and issues prospectuses includes the following
stages:
- A decision by the Management Company to approve the
fund rules and to issue investment units;
- Registration of fund rules and an issue prospectus;
- For certificated forms of issues, preparation of the
certificates of investment units;
- Disclosure of the information contained in the fund
rules and the issue prospectus in accordance with acts
of the Federal Commission;
- Initial distribution of investment units;
- Registration of a report on the results of the initial
distribution of investment units;
- Disclosure of information about the results of the
initial distribution of investment units of the fund.
8. The rules of the fund are developed in accordance
with the Standard Rules of an Open Unit Investment
Fund, as confirmed by Resolution No.13 of the Federal
Commission (October 12, 1995), and the Standard Rules
of an Interval Unit Investment Fund, as confirmed by
Resolution No.14 of the Federal Commission (October
16, 1995) (hereafter, the Standard Rules), and the
issue prospectus, in accordance with the Standard Prospectus
for an Issue of Investment Units, as confirmed by Resolution
No.15 of the Federal Commission (October 18, 1995)
(hereafter, the Standard Issue Prospectus). The fund
rules and the issue prospectus also can contain other
material that does not contradict the provisions of
the Standard Rules and Standard Issue Prospectus.
9. Registration of the fund rules and the issue prospectus
is carried out on the basis of an application by a
Management Company that intends to create a fund.
For registration of the fund rules and the issue prospectus,
the Management Company must provide to the Federal
Commission the following:
- A decision by the Management Company to approve the
fund rules and the issue prospectus;
- The fund rules and the issue prospectus (2 copies);
- A notarized copy of the license issued by the Federal
Commission to exercise trust management of the assets
of unit investment funds;
- Rules for maintaining the register of holders of investment
units of the fund by the Specialized Depository (Specialized
Registrar) of the fund, developed in accordance with
acts of the Federal Commission;
- A notarized copy of the contract on providing depository
services to the Management Company, concluded with
the Specialized Depository;
- A notarized copy of the license issued by the Federal
Commission to act as a Specialized Depository;
- A list of agents for distribution and redemption of
investment units, with an indication of their location
and appended the contract concluded with the Management
Company and an authorization from the Management Company
to carry out distribution and redemption of investment
units in its name;
- A notarized copy of the contract with an Auditor to
carry out a review of the records and accounting related
to trust management of assets of the fund;
- A notarized copy of the Standard Contract on appraising
the assets of a fund (for interval unit investment
funds).
The Management Company appends to the indicated documents
additional documents describing the procedures for
accepting applications to acquire and redeem investment
units, for accepting cash funds from investors upon
their submission of applications to acquire investment
units, for payment of cash funds to holders of investment
units upon their submission of applications to redeem
investment units, procedures for controlling the full
and timely deposit of cash funds of investors into
the bank accounts of the fund, the accurate and timely
settlement with holders of investment units who have
submitted applications to redeem investment units,
with an indication of the corresponding obligations
and responsibilities of the Management Company, the
Specialized Depository, the Specialized Registrar and
the agents for distribution and redemption of investment
units.
10. All the documents submitted to the Federal Commission
are registered upon their receipt.
11. The Federal Commission is responsible for the correspondence
of the information provided in the fund rules and the
issue prospectus with the list of information which
is required by the Standard Rules and Standard Issue
Prospectus.
The Federal Commission has the right to review information
that is provided to it upon registration of the fund
rules and the issue prospectus.
12. The Federal Commission is required to register the
issue prospectus and fund rules or to deny their registration
no later than 30 days after the date of receipt of
the documents indicated in this Regulation.
Registration of an issue prospectus and fund rules can
be denied only on the grounds provided for in this
Regulation.
13. Grounds to deny registration of fund rules or an
issue prospectus include:
- A violation by the Management Company of requirements
of legislation of the Russian Federation on securities
or acts of the Federal Commission, including the presence
in the documents provided of information leading the
conclusion that the conditions of redemption and circulation
of investment units are contradictory to acts of the
Federal Commission;
- A failure of the provided documents and their informational
contents to comply with the requirements of this Regulation;
- The inclusion of any false information or information
that does not correspond to fact (unreliable information)
in the fund rules, the issue prospectus or other documents
that serve as grounds for registering the fund rules
and the issue prospectus.
14. If there are no claims against the documents provided
by the Management Company, a letter must be sent, confirming
the fact of registration of the rules of the fund and
the issue prospectus. In the indicated letter, the
following information must be included:
- The data of introduction of the fund into the register
of unit investment funds;
- The name and type of the Fund;
- The legal name of the Management Company and the period
of its activity according to its license to exercise
trust management of assets of funds;
- The period for which the fund is created;
- The registration number and date of registration of
the issue prospectus of investment units;
- The registration number and date of registration of
the fund rules.
Also, one copy of the fund rules and issues prospectus,
stitched and sealed by the Federal Commission and stamped
"Registered" is to be returned to the Management
Company. The second copies of the indicated documents
are retained by the Federal Commission.
15. The issue prospectus and fund rules registered by
the Federal Commission are published by the Management
Company in a quantity sufficient for informing all
interested parties. The indicated documents are also
to be provided by the Management Company to the agents
for distribution and redemption of investment units,
to holders of investment units and to all other interested
parties upon their request, prior to the acquisition
of investment units by the indicated parties.
After registration of the fund rules and the issue prospectus,
the Management Company is to publish in a print medium
of no less than 50,000 copies, an announcement of the
issue of investment units, which includes the following
information about the fund:
- The full name and type of the fund;
- The name of the Management Company, the number and
date of issue of its license by the Federal Commission;
- The name of the Specialized Depository of the fund;
- The date of the beginning of initial distribution
of the investment units;
- The price for distribution of investment units, including
the surcharge;
- A list of agents for distribution and redemption of
investment units who accept applications to redeem
and distribute the investment units, with an indication
of their location;
- The size of the remuneration of the Management Company
in a percentage of the average net asset value of the
fund over the course of the financial year, in accordance
with the fund rules and the issue prospectus.
- The maximum amount of expenditure on paying remuneration
to the Specialized Depository, the Specialized Registrar,
the Auditor and the Independent Appraiser of the fund,
in a percentage from the average net asset value over
the course of the financial year, in accordance with
fund rules;
- Procedures for disclosing information about the fund
and the Management Company, including information about
places where a potential investor can study the issue
prospectus and fund rules.
The announcement can also contain also necessary information
that does not contradict the fund rules and the issue
prospectus.
The Management Company is to disclose the information
that is included in the fund rules and the issue prospectus
in accordance with procedures established by the Federal
Commission.
16. The Management Company has the right to carry out
initial distribution of investment units only after
registration of the fund rules and the issue prospectus.
The initial distribution of investment units must occur
no later than 180 calendar days after the registration
of the fund rules and issue prospectus.
The period of initial distribution of investment units
is established by the fund rules and cannot exceed
3 months.
The quantity of investment units issued is unlimited.
Distribution of investment units during the period of
initial distribution is carried out according to a
fixed price, including the surcharge to the distribution
price. The price for distribution and the amount of
the surcharge are established by fund rules. The size
of the surcharge may not exceed 5 percent of the fixed
distribution price. The indicated surcharge is applied
only if applications are submitted to agents for the
distribution and redemption of investment units.
Upon the expiration of the period of initial distribution
of the investment units, the value of fund assets must
constitute:
- for open unit investment funds, no less than 2.5 billion
rubles;
- for interval unit investment funds, no less than 5
billion rubles.
If, upon the expiration of the period of initial distribution
of investment units, the value of the fund assets is
less than the indicated amount, the fund is subject
to liquidation in accordance with the fund rules and
acts of the Federal Commission.
Upon submission of an application to acquire investment
units during the period of their initial distribution,
the application must indicate the requisites of the
investors' bank account, to which cash funds are to
be send upon liquidation of the fund, if, upon the
completion of the initial distribution period, the
value of fund assets is less than 2.5 billion rubles
for open unit investment funds or 5 billion rubles
for interval unit investment funds.
Cash funds, submitted in payment for investment units
(with the exception of the amount of the surcharge
to the cost of an investment unit) during the initial
distribution period, are subject to mandatory accrual
into the account where the cash funds of the fund are
held.
During the period of initial distribution of investment
units, the Management Company has the right to use
cash funds of the fund only for investing in government
short-term couponless bonds and federal loans obligations.
If, upon the expiration of the period of initial distribution
of investment units, the value of the fund assets is
less than the minimal value of assets indicated in
this clause, the Management Company is required to
suspend the acceptance of applications to acquire investment
units and take actions to liquidate the fund, in accordance
with fund rules and acts of the Federal Commission.
17. Initial distribution of investment units can be
carried out only on the basis of a contract concluded
by the Management Company and agents for the distribution
and redemption of investment units, and also an authorization
document.
Requirements for agents for distribution and redemption
of investment units and also for the provision of services
involving the distribution and redemption of investment
units are established by acts of the Federal Commission.
18. The Management Company is required to provide to
the Federal Commission, no later than the day after
the expiration of the period of initial distribution
of investment units, a report on the results of the
initial distribution of investment units in the form
of a report on the net asset value of the fund (including
all necessary addenda).
19. The report of the net asset value of a fund on the
date of expiration of the period of initial distribution
of investment units is subject to publication in the
print medium where the preliminary announcement of
an issue of investment units was published, no later
than five days after the expiration of the initial
distribution of investment units.
Subsequently, the report on the net asset value of the
fund is to be published by the Management Company according
to procedures and a schedule established by fund rules
and acts of the Federal Commission.
20. Initial distribution of investment units can be
suspended or declared invalid by the Federal Commission
upon discovery of the following violations:
- A violation of requirements of acts of the Federal
Commission by the Management Company in the course
of the issue of investment units;
- Discovery of unreliable information in the issue prospectus
or the fund rules;
- If, upon expiration of the period of initial distribution
of investment units, the value of fund assets is less
than 2.5 billion rubles for an open unit investment
fund and less than 5 billion rubles for an interval
unit investment fund, and the Management Company does
not liquidate the fund according to procedures established
in fund rules;
- Upon the discovery of violations of procedures for
issuing investment units, established by the Federal
Commission, it is also possible to suspend the issue
until the elimination of the violations within the
limits of the period of initial distribution. The issue
can be resumed upon a special decision of the Federal
Commission;
- If an issue of investment units is declared invalid,
all certificated securities of this issue are subject
to return to the Management Company, and the funds
received by the Management Company from the distribution
of investment units must be returned to the holders
of investment units and persons who have submitted
applications to acquire investment units and have paid
the cost of one investment unit proportion to the quantity
of investment units they own;
- An announcement that an issue of investment units
has been declared invalid (annulment of state registration)
is to be presented to the Management Company in written
form, and also published in the printed medium where
the announcement of an issue of investment units and
the report of the net asset value of the fund upon
expiration of the initial distribution period, were
published.
21. The Federal Commission exercises control over the
publication in the printed media of information, with
the purpose of preventing advertising of issues of
investment units before their state registration.
22. A decision to annul the state registration of an
issue of investment units is to be presented by the
Federal Commission to the Management Company within
5 days in written form, and can be appealed in the
courts.
23. A report of registered investment units is to be
introduced by the registering agency of the Federal
Commission into the register of unit investment funds
in accordance with acts of the Federal Commission.
24. The fund rules and issue prospectus can be changed
and (or) supplemented by the Management Company.
The introduction of changes and (or) additions to the
fund rules and issue prospectus come into effect conditionally
upon their registration by the Federal Commission and
the publication by the Management Company of an announcement
of this fact and also the full text of the registered
changes and (or) additions, according to procedures
established in this Regulation for the disclosure of
information on the registration of fund rules and issues
prospectuses.
The Federal Commission must be informed of changes and
(or) additions introduced into the rules for maintaining
the register of holders of investment units.
The particularities of the procedures under which changes
and (or) additions to the rules of an interval unit
investment fund come into effect are established by
the fund rules.

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