Finance Act 1995

152 Open-ended investment companies

(1) The Treasury may, by regulations, make such provision as they consider appropriate for securing that the enactments specified in subsection (2) below have effect in relation to—

(a) open-ended investment companies of any such description as may be specified in the regulations,

(b) holdings in, and the assets of, such companies, and

(c) transactions involving such companies,

in a manner corresponding, subject to such modifications as the Treasury consider appropriate, to the manner in which they have effect in relation to unit trusts, to rights under, and the assets subject to, such trusts and to transactions for purposes connected with such trusts.

(2) The enactments referred to in subsection (1) above are—

(a) the Tax Acts and the [1992 c. 12.] Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992; and

(b) the enactments relating to stamp duty and Part IV of the [1986 c. 41.] Finance Act 1986 (stamp duty reserve tax).

(3) The power of the Treasury to make regulations under this section in relation to any such enactments shall include power to make provision which does any one or more of the following, that is to say—

(a) identifies the payments which are or are not to be treated, for the purposes of any prescribed enactment, as the distributions of open-ended investment companies;

(b) modifies the operation of Chapters II, III and VA of Part VI of the Taxes Act 1988 in relation to open-ended investment companies or in relation to payments falling to be treated as the distributions of such companies;

(c) applies and adapts any of the provisions of Part IV of the [1986 c. 41.] Finance Act 1986 for the purpose of making in relation to transactions involving open-ended investment companies any provision corresponding (with or without modifications) to that which applies under the enactments relating to stamp duty in the case of equivalent transactions involving unit trusts;

(d) provides for any or all of the provisions of sections 75 to 77 of the [1986 c. 41.] Finance Act 1986 to have effect or not to have effect in relation to open-ended investment companies or the undertakings of, or any shares in, such companies;

(e) so modifies the operation of any prescribed enactment in relation to any such companies as to secure that arrangements for treating the assets of an open-ended investment company as assets comprised in separate pools are given an effect corresponding, in prescribed respects, to that of equivalent arrangements constituting the separate parts of an umbrella scheme;

(f) requires prescribed enactments to have effect in relation to an open-ended investment company as if it were, or were not, a member of the same group of companies as one or more other companies;

(g) identifies the holdings in open-ended investment companies which are, or are not, to be treated for the purposes of any prescribed enactment as comprised in the same class of holdings;

(h) preserves a continuity of tax treatment where, in connection with any scheme of re-organisation, assets of one or more unit trusts become assets of one or more open-ended investment companies, or vice versa;

(i) treats the separate parts of the undertaking of an open-ended investment company in relation to which provision is made by virtue of paragraph (e) above as distinct companies for the purposes of any regulations under this section;

(j) amends, adapts or applies the provisions of any subordinate legislation made under or by reference to any enactment modified by the regulations.

(4) The power to make regulations under this section shall be exercisable by statutory instrument and shall include power—

(a) to make different provision for different cases; and

(b) to make such incidental, supplemental, consequential and transitional provision as the Treasury may think fit.

(5) A statutory instrument containing regulations under this section shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of the House of Commons.

(6) In this section—

• “the enactments relating to stamp duty” means the [1891 c. 39.] Stamp Act 1891, and any enactment (including any Northern Ireland legislation) which amends or is required to be construed together with that Act;

• “Northern Ireland legislation” shall have the meaning given by section 24(5) of the [1978 c. 30.] Interpretation Act 1978;

• “open-ended investment company” has the same meaning as in the [1986 c. 60.] Financial Services Act 1986;

• “prescribed” means prescribed by regulations under this section;

• “subordinate legislation” means any subordinate legislation within the meaning of the [1978 c. 30.] Interpretation Act 1978 or any order or regulations made by statutory instrument under Northern Ireland legislation; and

• “umbrella scheme” shall have the meaning given by section 468 of the Taxes Act 1988;

and references in this section to the enactments relating to stamp duty, or to any of them, or to Part IV of the Finance Act 1986 shall have effect as including references to enactments repealed by sections 107 to 110 of the [1986 c. 41.] Finance Act 1990.

(7) Any reference in this section to unit trusts has effect—

(a) for the purposes of so much of this section as confers power in relation to the enactments specified in paragraph (a) of subsection (2) above, as a reference to authorised unit trusts (within the meaning of section 468 of the Taxes Act 1988), and

(b) for the purposes of so much of this section as confers power in relation to the enactments specified in paragraph (b) of that subsection, as a reference to any unit trust scheme (within the meaning given by section 57 of the [1946 c. 64.] Finance Act 1946).

(8) For the purposes of this section the enactments which shall be taken to make provision in relation to companies that are members of the same group of companies shall include any enactments which make provision in relation to a case—

(a) where one company has, or in relation to another company is, a subsidiary, or a subsidiary of a particular description, or

(b) where one company controls another or two or more companies are under the same control.[1990 c. 29.]