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National provisions governing the marketing requirements for UCITs

National (Slovak) provisions governing the marketing requirements for UCITS

Last updated: 15.8.2023

This page contains information on the national laws, regulations and administrative provisions governing the marketing requirements referred to in the Article 5 Section 1 of the 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.

Marketing requirements for UCITS

National laws, regulations and administrative provisions governing the marketing requirements for foreign collective investments undertakings which were granted authorization pursuant to the Article 5 of the Directive of the European Parliament and the Council 2009/65/ES (these subjects are hereinafter referred as “UCITS” or “UCITS funds”; the Directive as “UCITS Directive”) in the territory of the Slovak Republic:

Act. N. 203/2011 Coll. on collective investments (hereinafter as “ACI”)

A. Format and content of marketing materials

The format and content of a marketing material or communication, including identification of such information, is not prescribed by any regulation issued by Národná banka Slovenska.

B. Verification and prior consent to marketing communications

Marketing materials and documents are not required to be notified Národná banka Slovenska and they are not verified by Národná banka Slovenska prior to beginning of marketing in Slovakia. There is no prior authorization of marketing communication.

C. Reporting obligations in relation to marketing materials

All marketing communication of UCITS shall be in line with the requirements stated in the Article 151 of the ACI. There is no special reporting required. Národná banka Slovenska is entitled to require the UCITS to submit marketing materials for the purpose of assessing their compliance with relevant regulation in accordance with the Article 151 Section 7 of the ACI.

D. Notification and authorization regime (passporting)

The cross-border distribution and the cross-border management of the UCITS shall be provided in accordance with the Article 60 of the ACI referring to the Articles 64 to 66 and 142 to 144 ACI. The cross-border distribution of the UCITS shall be provided also in accordance with the Article 138 of the ACI.

The cross-border distribution of the foreign (EU) UCITS in the territory of the Slovak republic can be provided by the foreign management company licensed under the UCITS Directive and/or foreign (EU) UCITS licensed under the UCITS Directive on the basis of:

(a) the notification referred to in the Article 64 ACI and in the Article 142 ACI in case of the intention to distribute the UCITS through the establishment of a branch (Article 17 and 93 of the UCITS Directive);

(b) the notification referred to in the Article 142 of the ACI in case of the intention just to distribute the UCITS (not creation and management of the Slovak UCITS) on the basis of the freedom to provide services, without the establishment of the branch (Article 16, 18 and Article 93 of the UCITS Directive).

The notification referred to in the Article 64 and in Article 142 of the ACI is not required in case that the distribution of UCITS is to be performed in a manner other than a public offering of UCITS (Article 138 Section 6 of the ACI). Public marketing of UCITS in the Slovak Republic is allowed only if Národná banka Slovenska was dully notified under the ACI. Such UCITS shall ensure the fulfilment of the conditions for the public offering of UCITS according to the Article 144 of the ACI (Articles 92 and 94 of the UCITS Directive).

The cross-border management of the Slovak UCITS in the territory of the Slovak republic can be provided by the foreign management company licensed under the UCITS Directive on the basis of:

(a) the notification referred to in Article 64 and Article 66 of the ACI in case of the intention to manage the UCITS through the establishment of a branch (Article 17 of the UCITS Directive);

(b) the notification referred to in Article 65 and Article 66 of the ACI on the basis of the freedom to provide services, without the establishment of the branch (Article 16 and Article 93 of the UCITS Directive).

The foreign (EU) UCITS managed by the foreign management company licensed under the UCITS Directive and/or foreign/European UCITS licensed under the UCITS Directive shall provide the cross-border distribution of its securities in the territory of the Slovak Republic in accordance with the Articles 143 and 144 of the ACI.

Information on facilities to perform the tasks to retail investors according to the Article 144 Section 5 of the ACI (Article 92 of the UCITS Directive) shall be provided in Slovak language. There wasn´t any regulation issued by Národná banka Slovenska which would indicate that other language could be used to provide this information to retail investors in the territory of the Slovak Republic.

The distribution of the UCITS by the third party distributors is considered to fall within the provision of the investment service defined in the Annex I Section A point (1) Reception and transmission of orders in relation to one or more financial instruments and/or point (2) Execution of orders on behalf of clients of the MiFID Directive and shall be performed according to the Article 58 of the ACI only by persons authorized to perform this activity (investment service) in accordance with relevant legal regulation of a Member State in which the distribution takes place, or the financial institutions authorized to distribute the securities on the basis of their authorization.

Changes of the notification in case of the cross-border activities in the territory of the Slovak Republic through the establishment of a branch shall be sent electronically to the Národná banka Slovenska according to the Article 64 Section 5 of the ACI. Other changes of the cross-border activities shall be sent electronically to the home competent authority of the foreign/EU UCITS.

Denotification procedure of the cross-border distribution of the foreign/EU UCITS shall be realized in accordance with the Article 144a of the ACI (Article 93a of the UCITS Directive). Information according to the Article 144a point 1 and point 4 of the ACI (Article 93a of the UCITS Directive) shall be provided to investors in the territory of the Slovak Republic in Slovak language. There wasn´t any regulation issued by Národná banka Slovenska which would indicate that other language could be used to provide this information to investors in the territory of the Slovak republic.

The notification letter, changes of the notification and denotification shall be sent electronically to the home competent authority of the foreign UCITS.

As regards the notification letter, Národná banka Slovenska accepts the template of the notification letter used by the home competent authority of the foreign/EU UCITS or the template published on the following website:

/en/financial-market-supervision1/supervision/collective-investment

All the information shall be sent electronically by the home Member State competent authority of the foreign/EU UCITS to the following address: ucitsiv@nbs.sk

There are no special rules or obligations required by Národná banka Slovenska other than those under the Article 93 of the UCITS Directive (§ 142 and 143 of the ACI) and Notification regulation for the notification of the distribution of the UCITS in the territory of the Slovak republic.

Disclaimer: Národná banka Slovenska has taken reasonable care to ensure that the information on the national provisions governing the marketing requirements for UCITS in the Slovak Republic included on this webpage is up-to-date and complete. Národná banka Slovenska 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.

E. Other requirements

Any document or information other than a key information document for investors shall be provided to investors in Slovakia in accordance with the Article 144 Section 1 ACI in the following languages:

  • in the Slovak language or
  • in the language that may be established for this purpose by Národná banka Slovenska in a generally binding legal regulation issued pursuant to a special regulation (note: Národná banka Slovenska has not issued such a regulation for this purpose.), or
  • in the language commonly used in the field of international finance.

The use of the above-mentioned languages ​​is limited by the Article 144 Section 7 ACI, as it requires information on measures (facilities) to ensure compliance with the Article 144 Section 5 ACI to be provided in the Slovak language, as Národná banka Slovenska did not issue a generally binding legal regulation in which it would stipulate the use of another language for this purpose.

The key information document of a UCITS fund marketed in the Slovak Republic shall be written pursuant to the Article 7 of the PRIIPS Regulation:

  • in the official languages ​​or in one of the official languages ​​that is used in the part of the Member State in which the UCITS fund is distributed (note: the official language in the Slovak Republic is Slovak language according to the Act No. 270/1995 Coll. on the State Language, as amended), or
  • in another language accepted by the relevant authorities of the Slovak Republic (note: Národná banka Slovenska has not issued any legal regulation for this purpose.), or
  • if it was written in another language, it must be translated into one of the above languages, and the translation must faithfully and accurately reflect the content of the original key information document.

In addition to the provisions referred to above, which are set out specifically for the marketing of UCITS in the Slovak Republic, there may be other legal provisions that may apply when marketing them in Slovak Republic, 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, for example:

  • Article 73d Section 1 of the Act No. 566/2001 Coll. on securities and investment services (hereinafter referred to as “ASIS”), which states that the investment firm provides investors with the information necessary for them to correctly understand the nature and risks of the investment service, the specific type of financial instrument offered, and subsequently responsibly make investment decisions, in an understandable way;
  • Article 73c ASIS requires that all information, including marketing communications addressed to clients or potential clients, be unambiguous, clear, and non-misleading. Marketing communications must be identifiable.
  • Article 33 Section 7 of the Act No. 186/2009 Coll. on financial intermediation (hereinafter referred to as “AFI”) requires that the information provided by the financial agent and financial advisor to the client be, among other things, complete, accurate, true, understandable, unambiguous, clear and not misleading, provided in the Slovak language or in another agreed upon language.

Marketing in the Slovak Republic may trigger the application of other legal requirements, such as those related to unfair commercial practices, general information duties towards consumers, general requirements on advertising and general information duties in electronic commerce. When marketing UCITS funds to retail or qualified investors, it is also necessary to consider other legal regulations in the field of investor or consumer protection, from which it follows that the information provided to investors – consumers must be comprehensible for them and in accordance with the principles of good morals. When deciding which language to use in marketing materials intended for retail and qualified investors, given the purpose, content and scope of information, it is also necessary to take in account requirements of the following legal regulations:

  • Act No. 266/2005 Coll. on consumer protection in the provision of financial services at a distance regulates the supplier’s obligation to inform the consumer “…in a clear and comprehensible manner suitable for the used means of distance communication in accordance with the principles of good manners and in accordance with the principles of fair business dealings so that the commercial purpose of these information is clear; information must be up-to-date, complete and true. Furthermore, he is obliged to inform the consumer before concluding a distance contract or before the consumer is bound by the offer of a financial service, information about the supplier, the financial service, about the distance contract, about the way claims and complaints are handled or about the possibility of out-of-court handling of complaints about the existence of other guarantee funds or compensation systems. (See especially Articles 4 to 9)
  • Act No. 147/2001 Coll. on advertising, states the general requirement that advertising shall meet the requirements for public speaking, adhere to the principles of language culture, grammar and spelling rules, rules of pronunciation of the Slovak language and established professional terminology (see Articles 3 and 4)
  • Act No. 250/2007 Coll. on consumer protection (see Articles 3, 6, 7, 8, 9)
  • Act No. 22/2004 Coll. on electronic commerce (see Article 4)

Disclaimer: The following is a non-exhaustive list of national laws that could be applicable, and Národná banka Slovenska is not liable for any omission in that list. Supervision of the requirements deriving from these laws is not under the supervision of Národná banka Slovenska. The applicability of these requirements, and any other legal requirements, should be assessed before marketing or investing in a UCITS. Where uncertainty exists, those marketing or investing in UCITS should obtain independent advice as to the applicable requirements to their individual situation.

Summary of the marketing requirements for UCITS

Relevant regulation:

Key provisions: Articles 3, 58, 60, 64, 65, 138, 142-144, 144a, 151

  • Directive 2009/65/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the coordination of laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to undertakings for collective investment in transferable securities, as amended („UCITS Directive”)
  • Commission regulation (EU) No. 584/2010 as regards the form and content of the standard notification letter and UCITS attestation the use of electronic communication between competent authorities for the purpose of notification, and procedures for the on-the-spot verifications and investigations and the exchange of information between competent authorities (“Notification regulation”)
  • Regulation of the European Parliament and the Council (EU) no. 1286/2014 on key information documents for structured retail investment products and insurance-based investment products (PRIIPs) (“PRIIPS Regulation”)

Public marketing of UCITS in the Slovak Republic is allowed only if Národná banka Slovenska was dully notified under the ACI. Such UCITS shall ensure the fulfilment of the conditions for the public offering of UCITS according to the Article 144 of the ACI (Article 94 of the UCITS Directive).

UCITS are not obliged to notify the marketing communications to Národná banka Slovenska and there is no prior authorization by Národná banka Slovenska for such marketing communications. All marketing communication shall be in line with the Article 151 of the ACI. No special reporting obligations are required (only on request).

General regulation regarding advertising to the consumers:

Key provisions: Articles 73c, 73d

Key provisions: Article 33

Key provisions: Articles 3, 6, 7, 8, 9

  • Directive 2005/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 May 2005 concerning unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices in the internal market and amending Council Directive 84/450/EEC, Directives 97/7/EC, 98/27/EC and 2002/65/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council (‘Unfair Commercial Practices Directive’)

Key provisions: Articles 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

Key provisions: Articles 3, 4

Key provisions: Article 4

  • Directive 2000/31/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2000 on certain legal aspects of information society services, in particular electronic commerce, in the Internal Market (‘Directive on electronic commerce’)