(1)

The information to be provided to unit-holders pursuant to Article 43(1) of Directive 2009/65/EC in the case of a merger should reflect the different needs of the unit-holders of the merging and receiving UCITS and assist their understanding.

(2)

The merging UCITS or the receiving UCITS should not be required to include information other than that referred to in Article 43(3) of Directive 2009/65/EC and Articles 3 to 5 of this Directive in the information document. The merging UCITS or the receiving UCITS may however add other information of relevance in the context of the proposed merger.

(3)

Where the information document pursuant to Article 43(1) of Directive 2009/65/EC is supplemented by a summary, it should not relieve the UCITS of the obligation to avoid the use of long or technical explanations in the rest of the information document.

(4)

The information to be provided to the unit-holders of the receiving UCITS pursuant to Article 43(1) of Directive 2009/65/EC should assume that those unit-holders are already reasonably familiar with the features of the receiving UCITS, the rights they enjoy in relation to it, and the manner of its operation. It should therefore focus on the operation of the merger and its potential impact on the receiving UCITS.

(5)

The way the information pursuant to Articles 43 and 64 of Directive 2009/65/EC is provided to unit-holders should be harmonised. That information aims to enable unit-holders to make an informed judgement about whether they want to continue investing or request redemption, where a UCITS is either part of a merger, converts into a feeder UCITS or changes the master UCITS. Unit-holders should be aware of the aforementioned major change the UCITS is undergoing and be in a position to read the information. For that reason the information should be personally addressed to unit-holders either on paper or in another durable medium such as electronic mail (e-mail). The use of electronic means should allow UCITS to provide the information in a cost-efficient way. This Directive should not require UCITS to directly inform their unit-holders, but should take due account of the specificities in certain Member States in which UCITS or their management companies, for legal or practical reasons, are unable to directly contact unit-holders. UCITS should also be able to provide the information by passing it on to the depositary or to intermediaries provided that it is ensured that all unit-holders receive the information in due course. This Directive should only harmonise the manner in which the information pursuant to Articles 43 and 64 of Directive 2009/65/EC is provided to unit-holders. Member States may regulate the provision of other types of information to unit-holders by national rules.

(6)

The agreement between the master UCITS and the feeder UCITS should take account of the specific needs of the feeder UCITS, which invests at least 85 % of its assets in the master UCITS, while at the same time remaining subject to all obligations as a UCITS. The agreement should therefore ensure that the master UCITS provides the feeder UCITS with all necessary information in due course to allow the feeder UCITS to comply with its own obligations. It should also stipulate the other rights and duties of both parties.

(7)

Member States should not require the agreement between master and feeder UCITS pursuant to the first subparagraph of Article 60(1) to cover elements other than those referred to in Chapter VIII of Directive 2009/65/EC and Articles 8 to 14 of this Directive. The agreement may however cover other elements, if the master UCITS and the feeder UCITS so stipulate.

(8)

Where the dealing arrangements between master UCITS and feeder UCITS do not differ from those applying to all non-feeder unit-holders of the master UCITS and where those arrangements are laid down in the prospectus of the master UCITS, the agreement between master UCITS and feeder UCITS should not have to replicate those standard dealing arrangements, but may cross-refer to the relevant parts of the prospectus of the master UCITS in order to help industry to save costs and reduce the administrative burden.

(9)

The agreement between master UCITS and feeder UCITS should include appropriate procedures for the handling of enquiries and complaints from unit-holders with a view to dealing with correspondence which has mistakenly been sent to the master UCITS instead of the feeder UCITS or vice versa.

(10)

In order to save transaction costs and to avoid negative tax implications, the master UCITS and the feeder UCITS may wish to agree on a transfer of assets in kind, unless this is prohibited under national law or incompatible with the fund rules or instruments of incorporation of either the master UCITS or the feeder UCITS. The possibility of transferring assets in kind to the master UCITS should in particular help those feeder UCITS which have already been carrying on activities as a UCITS, including a feeder UCITS of a different master UCITS, to avoid transaction costs arising from the sale of assets which both the feeder UCITS and the master UCITS have invested in. The feeder UCITS should also be able to receive, if it so wishes, assets in kind from the master UCITS, since this may help to reduce transaction costs and to avoid negative tax implications. A transfer of assets in kind to the feeder UCITS should not be limited to the cases of a liquidation, merger or division of the master UCITS, but should also be available under other circumstances.

(11)

In order to preserve the necessary flexibility, while at the same time taking account of the best interests of investors, a feeder UCITS which has received assets through a transfer of assets in kind should be able to either transfer some or all of those assets to its master UCITS where the master UCITS so agrees, or to realise assets for cash in order to invest cash in the master UCITS.

(12)

Due to the specificities of the master-feeder structure it is necessary that the agreement between the master and the feeder UCITS provides for conflict of law rules which derogate from Articles 3 and 4 of Regulation (EC) No 593/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 June 2008 on the law applicable to contractual obligations (Rome I) (2) in such a way that the applicable law to this agreement should be either the law of the Member State where the feeder UCITS is established, or that of the master UCITS. The parties should be free to assess the advantages and disadvantages of that choice and to take into account whether the master UCITS has several feeder UCITS and whether those feeder UCITS are established in only one or in several Member States.

(13)

In the case of a liquidation, merger or division of the master UCITS in respect of which Directive 2009/65/EC grants unit-holders of the feeder UCITS the right to request redemption, the feeder UCITS should not undermine that right by temporarily suspending repurchase or redemption, unless exceptional circumstances require it to do so to protect the interests of unit-holders or it is directed to do so by its competent authorities.

(14)

Since a merger or division of the master UCITS may become effective within 60 days, the time limit for the feeder UCITS to apply for and obtain approval of its new investment intentions and to grant the unit-holders of the feeder UCITS the right to request repurchase or redemption within 30 days, may in exceptional circumstances be too short to allow the feeder UCITS to know for sure how many of its unit-holders will request redemption. Under such circumstances the feeder UCITS should in principle be obliged to request redemption of all its units in the master UCITS. In order to avoid unnecessary transaction costs, the feeder UCITS should however be able to use other means to ensure that its unit-holders may make use of the right to request redemption, while allowing it to reduce transaction costs or to avoid other negative impacts. The feeder UCITS should in particular apply for approval as soon as possible. Furthermore, the feeder UCITS should for instance not be obliged to request redemption to the extent its own unit-holders choose not to make use of that facility. Where the feeder UCITS requests redemption from the master UCITS, it should consider whether a redemption in kind might reduce transaction costs and avoid other negative impacts.

(15)

The information-sharing agreement between the depositaries of the master UCITS and the feeder UCITS should allow the depositary of the feeder UCITS to receive all relevant information and documents which it needs in order to be able to perform its duties. Given the specificity of this agreement it should provide for the same conflict of law rules as foreseen in the agreement between master and feeder UCITS derogating from Articles 3 and 4 of the Rome I Regulation. The information-sharing agreement should however require neither the depositary of the master UCITS nor of the feeder UCITS to carry out tasks which are forbidden or not provided for under the national law of their home Member State.

(16)

The reporting of irregularities, which the depositary of the master UCITS detects in the course of carrying out its depositary function under the national law of its home Member State, aims to protect the feeder UCITS. For that reason no reporting should be required when those irregularities do not have a negative impact on the feeder UCITS. Where irregularities with regard to the master UCITS have a negative impact on the feeder UCITS, the latter should also be informed as to whether and how the irregularities have been resolved. The depositary of the master UCITS should therefore inform the depositary of the feeder UCITS of how the master UCITS has resolved or proposes to resolve the irregularity. If the depositary of the feeder UCITS is not satisfied that the resolution is in the interests of the unit-holders of the feeder UCITS, it should promptly report its view to the feeder UCITS.

(17)

The information-sharing agreement between the auditors of the master UCITS and the feeder UCITS should allow the auditor of the feeder UCITS to receive all relevant information and documents which it needs in order to be able to perform its duties. Given the specificity of this agreement it should provide for the same conflict of law rules as foreseen in the agreement between master and feeder UCITS derogating from Articles 3 and 4 of the Rome I Regulation.

(18)

The scope of the information to be made accessible by electronic means in accordance with Article 91(3) of Directive 2009/65/EC should be specified in order to provide for legal certainty as to what categories of information should be included.

(19)

In order to provide for a common approach to how the documents referred to in Article 93(2) of Directive 2009/65/EC should be made accessible by electronic means to the competent authorities of the UCITS host Member State, it is necessary to require that each UCITS or its management company designates a website where such documents are made available in an electronic format that is in common use. It is also necessary to set out a procedure for electronic notification of changes to these documents to the competent authorities of the UCITS host Member State, in accordance with Article 93(7) of that Directive.

(20)

In order to allow UCITS and their management companies to adapt to the new requirements on the method and manner to provide information to unit-holders in the cases referred to in Articles 7 and 29, Member States should be granted a longer period for the transposition of those requirements into their national legal systems. This is particularly important in those cases where the UCITS or their management companies are unable for legal or practical reasons to inform the unit-holders directly. UCITS with dematerialised bearer shares should be able to prepare all arrangements necessary to ensure that unit-holders receive the information in the cases specified in Articles 8 and 32. UCITS with materialised bearer shares should be able to convert them into registered shares or dematerialised bearer shares, if they want to be able to merge, convert into a feeder UCITS or change the master UCITS.

(21)

The Committee of European Securities Regulators, established by Commission Decision 2009/77/EC (3) has been consulted for technical advice.

(22)

The measures provided for in this Directive are in accordance with the opinion of the European Securities Committee,