Legal & Regulatory Framework
We have selected a legal and regulatory framework that offers the utmost protection for investors.
Corporate setup​​
Our Funds are issued as sub-funds of an open-ended company (so-called “SICAV“) domiciled in France: the Spiko SICAV.
SICAV is a French acronym for “Société d’investissement à capital variable”. It is the most common form of open-ended mutual fund structure in Europe. The only shareholders of a SICAV are the fund's investors. Holding a share of SICAV grants ownership rights to the portfolio of assets held by the fund.
As the Spiko tokens (USTBL, EUTBL) are shares in the Spiko SICAV, they confer voting rights and the ability to influence the governance of the SICAV (selection of board members, etc.). So in addition to being security tokens, the Spiko tokens also serve as governance tokens (see Governance section).
Type of funds​​
The Spiko Funds are UCITS (Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities) under EU law.
UCITS are the EU equivalent of US mutual funds. UCITS were introduced in the EU in 1985. With more than 30,000 funds in the EU, collectively accounting for over €9 trillion in assets under management (source: ESMA), UCITS are an extremely successful and trusted product category. If you are an EU citizen, you probably already own UCITS through your life insurance plan.
The UCITS rules ensure a very high level of investor protection (e.g. segregation and diversification of fund assets, transparency on fees, regulatory oversight, etc.). Launching a new UCITS - like Spiko’s - requires the approval from a national competent authority in the EU.
Specificities​ of money market funds​
In addition to being UCITS, our Funds are licensed money market funds under the MMF Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2017/1131).
Money market funds (MMF) issued in the EU must comply with the MMF rules, on top of the UCITS ones. These rules enforce strict liquidity ratios as well as diversification rules, and therefore provides MMF investors with additional protections.