ASICAV is acollective investment scheme common in Western Europe, especiallyLuxembourg,Switzerland,Italy,Spain,Belgium,Malta,France, and theCzech Republic. SICAV is an acronym inFrench forsociété d'investissement àcapitalvariable, which can be translated as 'investment company with variable capital and securities (government bonds, stocks, corporate bonds)'.
It is similar to anopen-endedmutual fund in the United States, while asociedad de inversión de capital fijo orsociété d'investissement à capital fixe (SICAF) is similar to aclosed-end fund. As in the case of other open-end collective investment schemes (such as contractual funds), the investor is in principle entitled at all times to request the redemption of their units and payment of the redemption amount in cash.
SICAVs are increasingly being cross-border marketed in theEU under theUCITS directive.
According to the Swiss Federal Act on Collective Investment Schemes (Collective Investment Schemes Act - CISA), an open-ended collective investment scheme may be in the form of a contractual fund or an investment company with variable capital (SICAV).
With open-ended collective investment schemes, investors have either a direct or indirect legal entitlement, at the expense of the collective assets, to redeem their units at thenet asset value.
Each open-ended collective investment scheme has its own fund regulations (often referred to also asprospectus). Contractual funds are regulated by the collective investment contract (e. g., fund contract). In SICAVs, it is the articles of association and the investment regulations.
InSpain, a SICAV is apublic limited company whose object is to invest in financial assets. SICAVs have greattax advantages, paying corporate income tax (corporation tax) at a rate of just 1%. Nonetheless, they have to fulfill several requirements:
In theBasque Country andNavarre, the autonomous regional tax authorities have raised the corporate income tax for SICAVs to that of the rest of corporations (up to 28%).As a result, the Basque and Navarrese SICAVs have changed their sites to the rest of Spain or the European Union.[1]
