Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 26
By Maksim Tsurkov - Trend:
The State Securities Committee (SSC) of Azerbaijan has already issued the first permit for the establishment of investment funds in the country, the Committee Chairman Rufat Aslanli told Trend Jan.26.
"Under the law, an investment fund is controled by the management company," said Aslanli. "At the moment we have issued licenses for asset management to three companies (İnvest Az Asset Management, AzFinance Asset Management and Trust Asset Management). Now they have to prepare the rules for work of the created funds, and as soon as they apply, we will consider licensing the funds themselves."
He said that the important point is the issue of taxation of investment funds. "I think that this issue will be resolved," said the head of the State Committee. "By that time, the process of adopting a specific mode of taxation of transactions on the securities market will be intensified."
The Law "On Investment Funds" was adopted by the Parliament of Azerbaijan October 22, 2010 and approved by the President on Nov.13 of the same year.
The need to prepare a new law came due to the fact that the 1999 Law "On Investment Funds" currently does not allow to adjust the processes happening on the securities market of Azerbaijan. Over the last period, the stock market of Azerbaijan was sufficiently developed, so the old law could not fully provide the legal framework for the modern market.
The new law liberalized the mechanism in the field of investment funds. There are different funds in the world - investment, mutual, venture. It is provided to establish joint-investment funds, mutual funds, including open, closed and interval type in Azerbaijan.
The amended law also defines the exact procedure for the licensing of investment funds. Licensing will take place in two stages, according to the law. In the first phase persons who want to establish an investment fund will appeal to the SSC in order to obtain a permit for the establishment of the fund. Term of consideration of this appeal is 60 days. In the second stage (after passing the state registration) the created investment fund must re-apply to the State Committee directly for a license. In this case, in the second stage, the application period for a license is limited to 30 days.
Edited by CN
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