On July 1, 2011, the Ucits IV (Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities) regulations came into force across the EU, giving retail investors a standardised set of documentation designed to enable them to compare products, and analyse fees, payoffs and risks.
The European Commission put the Ucits IV Directive in place in June 2009, and national regulators were given two years to implement it. The new rules apply to structured funds (funds with an embedded derivative) and to exchange traded funds (ETFs), which are generally structured to meet Ucits regulations, making them easier to market to retail investors even though most are bought by institutions.
