The Serbian Securities Commission (“Commission”) enacted a series of by-laws regulating open and alternative investment funds as well as other relevant issues regarding the issuance of an investment prospectus. The by-laws will enter into force on 5 May 2020.
These by-laws were much needed as the Law on Alternative Investment Funds and Law on Open Investment Funds Subject to the Public Offer were adopted in October 2019, but a number of technical and substantive issues remained open. As a reminder, the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia delayed the application of these laws until 20 April 2020, so with the new by-laws in place, their practical implementation may begin.
It, however, remains to be seen how the Serbian market will react to finally having access to alternative financing as opposed to the current bank-dominated environment. Also, it will be interesting to see whether venture capital and private equity investors will opt for establishing an alternative investment fund in case they decide to finance a local company (which is usually the case in other jurisdictions for micro, small or medium-sized businesses).
