National provisions governing the marketing requirements for UCITs

National (Slovak) provisions governing the marketing requirements for UCITS

Last updated: 22.09.2021

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.

Marketing requirements for UCITS

National laws, regulations and administrative provisions governing the marketing requirements for UCITS:

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

Format and content of marketing material, including identification of such information is not prescribed by any regulation issued by National Bank of Slovakia. Marketing materials and documents are not required to be notified to the National Bank of Slovakia and they are not verified by the National Bank of Slovakia prior to beginning of marketing in Slovakia. There is no prior authorisation for marketing communication required.

All marketing communication of the UCITS shall be in line with Article 151 of the ACI. There is no special reporting required. National Bank of Slovakia is entitled to require the UCITS to submit marketing materials for the purpose of assessing their compliance with relevant regulation in accordance with Article 151 point 7 of the ACI.

The cross-border distribution and the cross- border management of the UCITS shall be provided in accordance with Article 60 of the ACI. The cross-border distribution of the UCITS shall be provided also in accordance with 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 Article 64 of the ACI and in Article 142 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 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 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 point 6 of the ACI).

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 in the territory of the Slovak republic in accordance with the Articles 143 and 144 of the ACI.

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 National Bank of Slovakia according to the Article 64 point 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 teritorry of the Slovak republic in Slovak language. There wasn´t any regulation issued by National Bank of Slovakia which would indicate that other language could be used to provide this information to investors in the teritorry 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 to the notification letter, National Bank of Slovakia 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 the National Bank of Slovakia other than those under 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.

Public marketing of UCITS in the Slovak republic is allowed only if the National Bank of Slovakia 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).

Information on facilities to perform the task to retail investors according to the Article 144 point 5 of the ACI (Article 92 of the UCITS Directive) shall be provided in Slovak language. There wasn´t any regulation issued by National Bank of Slovakia which would indicate that other language could be used to provide this information to retail investors in the teritorry of the Slovak republic.

The distribution of the UCITS by the third party distributors is considered as providing of the investment service defined in 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 2014/65/EU of the EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 15 May 2014 on markets in financial instruments and amending Directive 2002/92/EC and Directive 2011/61/EU) and shall be performed according to the Article 58 of the ACI only by persons authorised 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 authorised to distribute the securities on the basis of their authorisation.

Disclaimer: National Bank of Slovakia has taken reasonable care to ensure that the information on the national provisions governing the marketing requirements for UCITS in Slovak republic included on this webpage is up-to-date and complete. National Bank of Slovakia 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 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. Marketing in 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.

Disclaimer: The following is a non-exhaustive list of national laws that could be applicable and National Bank of Slovakia is not liable for any omission in that list. Supervision of the requirements deriving from these laws is not under the supervision of National Bank of Slovakia. 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:

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

Key provisions: Articles 3, 58, 60, 64, 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 („the 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”)

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

General regulation regarding advertising to the consumers: