LONDON, April 7 (Reuters) - Funds management companies can
delay publication of annual reports and use electronic
signatures for approving documents during the coronavirus
pandemic, Britain's Financial Conduct Authority has said.
Fund managers currently have to publish an annual report
within four months from the end of their financial year. The FCA
has given them an extra two months to publish the annual
reports, and an extra month for half-yearly reports.
"We acknowledge the significant challenge firms are facing
in the current environment," the FCA said in its latest
coronavirus update for firms that it regulates.
Fund management companies can also hold general meetings of
their investors in a virtual format given lockdown restrictions
on public meetings, the watchdog said.
With some fund managers unable to provide physically signed
documentation for regulatory applications to open a fund or
amend a fund, the FCA said it would accept electronic signatures
during the epidemic.
"In all cases where an electronic signature is used, we need
to be assured that the signatory has seen and agreed with all
the information in the form," the watchdog said.
(Reporting by Huw Jones)