Asia-Pacific economies take step forward on regional funds scheme

SINGAPORE - Six economies in the Asia-Pacific region have taken the next step towards setting up a scheme that will make it easier for fund management products to be offered between their countries.

Singapore, Australia, Korea, New Zealand, the Philippines and Thailand have released a consultation paper to seek views from the public on the details of the proposed Asia Region Funds Passport, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) a.d Finance Ministry said in a joint statement on Wednesday.

This comes after Singapore signed a statement of intent in September last year to jointly establish this passport initiative.

The passport scheme will allow fund managers operating in one of the member economies to offer their funds in other member economies "under a streamlined authorisation process", the statement said.

The consultation paper states the rules that will apply to participating fund managers and funds.

It also sets out common standards and expectations among regulators of the passport member economies on how the funds will be supervised, including how investor interests will be protected.

The passport is targeted for launch in 2016. Interested members of the public can read the consultation paper on the Asia Region Funds Passport website and submit their comments to the MAS by July 11.

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