Investment - Articles - Investment company shares not 'automatically complex'

 MiFID II requires firms distributing ‘complex’ products without advice to assess the ‘knowledge and understanding’ of retail investors before allowing them to buy and sell them. Currently the ordinary shares of investment companies are not considered complex, thereby avoiding any such assessment.

 It had been previously suggested that the shares of investment companies traded on regulated markets should be treated as automatically complex. The AIC did not agree with this view, considering it wrong on both legal and policy grounds. Designating investment company shares as automatically complex risked disrupting the market and placing investment companies at a disadvantage to competing investment products.

 Ian Sayers, Chief Executive, Association of Investment Companies (AIC) said: “This is a very welcome announcement by the FCA. The AIC has consistently argued that the view that investment company shares should be treated as ‘automatically complex’ was incorrect legally, as well as wrong in principle. Allowing products to be tested consistently against common criteria creates a level playing field and will mean that virtually all investment company shares will continue to be treated as non-complex. We will continue to work with the FCA to ensure that this position is adopted after the consultation.”