Regulatory Alerts2018-03-26
Notice 2073 of 2003: Foreign Country Investment Ratings for Collective Investment Schemes
The Registrar of Collective Investment Schemes establishes minimum foreign currency sovereign and issuer credit rating thresholds to permit collective investment schemes in securities and property to invest abroad. Under these regulations, portfolios may only allocate assets to foreign jurisdictions and non-equity issuers that meet a Moody’s Baa2 or Standard & Poor’s/Fitch BBB rating or higher. This directive formally repeals Notice 574 of 2003 and takes effect on 1 August 2003.
NOTICE 2073 OF 2003 COLLECTIVE INVESTMENT SCHEMES CONTROL ACT, 2002 FOREIGN COUNTRIES IN WHICH COLLECTIVE INVESTMENT SCHEME IN SECURITIES OR IN PROPERTY MAY INVEST Under sections 45(a)(i) and 49 of the Collective Investment Schemes Control Act, 2002 (Act No. 45 of 2002), I, Jeffrey van Rooyen, Registrar of Collective Investment Schemes, hereby determine in the Schedule the ratings, by specific rating agencies, that a foreign country and an issuer of non-equity securities located in such foreign country, must have in order to enable collective investment schemes in securities or in property to invest in such foreign country. REGISTRAR OF COLLECTIVE INVESTMENT SCHEMES SCHEDULE
- A manager of a collective investment scheme in securities may invest the assets of a portfolio in non-equity securities from an issuer located in a foreign country, which has a foreign currency sovereign rating, and the issuer has a long-term credit rating on the international foreign currency rating scale, of “Baa2” or higher by Moody’s Investors Service Limited, or “BBB” or higher by Standard and Poor’s, by Fitch Ratings Limited or Fitch Southern Africa (Pty) Limited (“Fitch”).