Information on Brexit and investments

We wish to inform you regarding the following investment funds:

• UCITS (see the description below) registered in the UK and UCITS of which the fund manager is registered in the UK (UK UCITS);
• AIFs (see the description below) of which the fund manager is registered in the UK (UK AIFs).

After the Brexit, these investment funds may be offered for sale in the EU only if certain rules are complied with. An overview of these investment funds is attached.

UCITS may be registered only in the EU. After the Brexit, the UK will no longer be a member state of the EU. If you have purchased a UK UCITS, the status of the investment fund will change as it will no longer be a UCITS. The investment fund then no longer has to comply with European rules for UCITS, and there will also no longer be any relevant checks in that regard. We wish you to be aware of this so that you can decide for yourself whether you wish to continue investing in this investment fund.

At present, it is not yet known which investment funds will still take actions in order to comply with the regulations. 

In addition, it is also possible that the Netherlands will implement temporary measures in order to limit the negative consequences of the Brexit for investment funds. Luxemburg, for example, is already moving in that direction. 

Investors who have these investment funds in their investment portfolio do not have to sell these investment funds before or after the Brexit. Investors can simply continue to hold these investment funds in their investment portfolio.

If an investment fund may not be offered for sale on the Dutch market due to non-compliance with the regulations, we may no longer carry out any purchase transactions for that investment fund on your behalf.

If an investment fund, in which we invest in Portfolio Management, may not be bought in the Netherlands due to the Brexit we will sell this fund. We will do this because we always want to have the flexibility to add a position in an existing fund, which will be impossible if a fund is not registred to be bought in the Netherlands .

If an investment fund may not be offered for sale on the Dutch market due to non-compliance with the regulations, we may still carry out sales transactions for that investment fund on your behalf.

It is not known what effect the Brexit will have on the prices of these investment funds or how the Brexit will affect the ability to sell these investment funds. Take this into account in preparing for the Brexit.

UCITS is an acronym for Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities. The UCITS regulations describes the requirements that an investment fund registered in the EU must comply with in order to be offered for sale in all EU countries. In the Netherlands, UCITS is also referred to as ICBE (‘Instelling voor Collectieve Beleggingen in Effecten’).

AIF stands for Alternative Investment Fund. Examples of AIFs are hedge funds or private equity funds. These types of investment funds must comply with different rules and regulations than UCITS.

A dual-listed share can be traded on more than one exchange. Well-known examples of such shares include Vodafone, Glaxo Smith Kline and Royal Dutch Shell. Based on relevant legislation, we are required to trade dual-listed shares on an exchange in the EU (this is abbreviated as STO- Share Trade Obligation). Some exchanges outside the EU are treated in the same way as exchanges in the EU. These exchanges have been declared to be equivalent. After the Brexit, the UK will no longer belong to the EU, and we will therefore no longer be allowed to trade certain (see hereafter) dual-listed shares on the exchange in the UK. This would be permitted only if the exchange in the UK were to be declared as being equivalent or if the trading occurs on a non-systematic, ad-hoc, irregular and infrequent basis. It is not yet known whether or when the UK exchanges will be declared to be equivalent. However ESMA has confirmed that they regard the trading of EU issuers’ shares in GBP as occurring on a non-systematic, ad-hoc, irregular and infrequent basis and therefore not subject to the EU STO.

After the Brexit, we will be allowed to simply continue trading shares in the UK if they are only traded on an exchange in the UK.

We do not believe that any ABN AMRO clients have shares in their investment portfolios that will be impacted by the EU STO following the announcement by ESMA.

You can place an order via Internet Banking, Mobile Banking and MyDealingroom. Before you confirm this order you will see to which exchange we will send this order. If the London Stock Exchange is mentioned here, then the share is bought on this stock exchange. The order will not be executed until you confirm. You can also contact your adviser.