- EU member country compliant with EU laws and regulations
- Cost effective setting up and on-going operational services
- Extensive network of double tax treaties allowing tax efficient structuring of investments
- Can be listed on the Cyprus Stock Exchange and other recognized EU stock exchanges
- No licensing required
- No minimum capital requirements
- No investment restrictions
- Multiple compartments possible
- Can operate as open or closed ended
- Units of RAIFs may be listed
- Can be converted into an AIF
- Various structures available -Variable Capital Investment Company (VCIC), Fixed Capital Investment Company (FCIC), Common Fund (CF). Limited Partnership (LP)
- RAIF with an authorised AIFM has access to European professional investors in 28
- EU Member States (and the 3 additional European Economic Area Members States)
- using the AIFMD marketing passport)
RAIFs are a new and innovative fund vehicle launched in July 2018. They are geared to professional and well informed investors only and offer a quick and cost efficient fund launch of only one month from the date of filling a notification pack to the regulator, CySEC.
The Cyprus Registered AIF is able to market to investors across the EU and will be managed by a full scope Cyprus or EU Alternative Investment Fund Manager (AIFM). Although the RAIF is not “authorized”, it is indirectly subject to regulatory oversight through its AIFM. In addition to the full scope AIFM, a sub-threshold AIFM which is subject to prudential regulation, a MiFID Investment Firm in Cyprus or any EU member country may also manage a RAIF, provided it is a closed ended limited partnership and invests more than 70 percent in illiquid assets.
The RAIF regime, whereby the fund does not require authorization from CySEC or subsequent monitoring, while being stamped as an AIF by virtue of the law, offers new opportunities for a quick and cost effective fund launch.