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Fund Regulation, Registration, and Exemptions

Investing terms for fund registration, investment-company regulation, AIF rules, UCITS, RICs, and private-fund exemptions.

Fund Regulation, Registration, and Exemptions terms describe fund structures, pooled vehicles, registration status, regulatory exemptions, investment-company forms, and cross-border wrappers.

Use this branch when legal form, registration, exemption, trust structure, or pooled-vehicle design changes investor rights, liquidity, reporting, or tax treatment.

Key Terms in This Branch

TermUse it for
3(c)(7) ExemptionA fund structure, regulation, pooled-vehicle, or investment-company term.
AIFM DirectiveA fund structure, regulation, pooled-vehicle, or investment-company term.
Alternative Investment Fund (AIF)A fund structure, regulation, pooled-vehicle, or investment-company term.
Investment Company Act of 1940A fund structure, regulation, pooled-vehicle, or investment-company term.
Registered Investment CompanyA fund structure, regulation, pooled-vehicle, or investment-company term.
Regulated Investment Company (RIC)A fund structure, regulation, pooled-vehicle, or investment-company term.
UCITSA fund structure, regulation, pooled-vehicle, or investment-company term.

What to Check

Check registration status, governing law, exemption, eligible investor rules, redemption rights, custody, reporting obligations, tax classification, and whether the wrapper changes legal protections.

Common Mistakes

  • Treating every pooled vehicle as if it gives the same investor protections.
  • Ignoring registration status, exemption, jurisdiction, and eligible-investor limits.
  • Comparing wrappers without checking redemption rights and tax classification.
  • Using regulatory labels as recommendations.

This page is educational and does not recommend a specific fund, security, tax treatment, or account choice.

In this section

Choose a subsection first. Deeper term pages live inside each subsection, which keeps large topic hubs readable.

3(c)(7) Exemption

The 3(c)(7) exemption allows certain private funds owned by qualified purchasers to avoid investment company registration.

AIFM Directive

The AIFM Directive is the European regulatory framework for managers of alternative investment funds.

Alternative Investment Fund (AIF)

An alternative investment fund pools capital for nontraditional strategies such as private equity, hedge funds, real assets, or credit.

Investment Company Act of 1940

Core U.S. fund-regulation statute governing registered investment companies, disclosure, governance, and investor protections.

Regulated Investment Company (RIC)

U.S. tax classification for certain pooled investment vehicles that pass income through to shareholders if they meet distribution and qualification rules.

UCITS

UCITS are European regulated investment funds designed for retail distribution under diversification, liquidity, and investor-protection rules.

Revised on Sunday, June 21, 2026