Consultation paper: Proposed exemption from the market index requirement

First published 7 August 2017

The Financial Market Conduct Regulations 2014 (FMC Regulations) require managers to disclose the return of a ‘market index’ in quarterly fund updates.

During the FMC Act transition period some fund managers signalled to us that they were experiencing difficulty complying with this requirement. These managers believe there is no market index available for one or more of their funds that complies with the FMC Regulations.

We agree that the market index requirement creates challenges for certain types of funds.

We are proposing an exemption to allow managers unable to find a compliant market index to provide another form of benchmark (a peer group) as an alternative.

Submissions closed on Friday 1 September 2017.

There is now an exemption from the market index requirement, and associated guidance. The exemption applies to the manager of a fund that invests, in whole or in part, in assets that do not have an appropriate market index.

If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]