Lora Froud

Macfarlanes

Lora advises clients on the structuring and operation of onshore and offshore investment funds, both regulated and unregulated, and also advises on all legal aspects of asset management. She specialises in regulated funds. Her clients include operators, asset managers, depositaries and custodians of investment funds. She regularly assists clients with related EU and UK regulatory and compliance matters. She has particular experience in advising on the UCITS regime, the Retail Distribution Review, the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive, MiFID and PRIIPs.

Lora is an active participant in Investment Association initiatives and is currently advising the FCA and IA on the proposed Long Term Asset Fund. She is also on the Alternative Investment Management Association working groups in relation to UCITS, AIFMD and Liquid Alternatives and is on the IBA’s Investment Funds Committee.

Lora is ranked as a leading individual in the retail funds space by a leading legal directory, The UK Legal 500, and is listed in The Lawyer’s Hot 100 2020.

Contributed to

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Qualified investor schemes (QIS)

Practice Notes

This note explores key areas of qualified investor schemes (QIS), a UK regulated collective investment scheme (CIS) which sits alongside the UK UCITS, non UCITS retail schemes (NURS) and long-term asset fund (LTAF) regimes. The note comments on investment powers, possible investors, redemption considerations and promotion as well as possible tax points to consider. This note provides an introduction, which could be followed by detailed consideration of the relevant provisions of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) Handbook, as referenced in this note.

Financial Services

Unregulated collective investment schemes—essentials

Practice Notes

In the UK, an unregulated CIS (UCIS) is any collective investment scheme (CIS) that is not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as either an authorised fund or a recognised scheme. Although UCIS themselves are not regulated, from a UK regulatory perspective certain UK legislation and FCA regulation, including provisions implementing EU directives, will still apply. This note details the applicable provisions.

Financial Services