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The Corporate Collective Investment Framework and Other Measures Bill 2021 has passed signalling the introduction of the Corporate Collective Investment Vehicle (CCIV) framework on 1 July 2022

A CCIV is an investment vehicle with a corporate structure, with the additional consumer protection of an independent depositary (for retail funds) responsible for the oversight of certain administrative functions undertaken by the fund.

A single CCIV can offer multiple products and investment strategies within the same vehicle. Each CCIV:

  • Is company limited by shares
  • Must have a single corporate director, which must be a public company, with an Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL) and may not have any other officers
  • Must register with ASIC and meet certain basic requirements – including at the time of registration, it must have at least one sub-fund, which has at least one member.
  • Can have one or more sub-funds established within, but each sub-fund’s registration with ASIC is a ‘standalone’ process
  • Must register as retail or wholesale.  If even one investor is retail, the CCIV must register as retail, and must comply with additional regulatory requirements designed to protect retail investors.

Given the CCIV is a corporate structure, it will generally be subject to the ordinary rules under the Corporations Act, with some special provisions.   Most of the powers, rights, duties and characteristics of a company will apply.

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More about the ‘single corporate director’

A little more detail to explain the role and responsibilities of the CCIV single corporate director, which:

  • is required to obtain the newly introduced AFSL authorisation to ‘operate the business and conduct the affairs of the CCIV’ – a single AFSL may cover operating the business and conducting the affairs of more than one CCIV.
  • must ‘operate the business and conduct the affairs of the CCIV’ in accordance with the conditions of its AFSL authorisation, the CCIV’s constitution, and the Corporations Act, which includes general directors duties such as the duty to act honestly and in members’ best interests, as well as CCIV-specific directors duties (which apply to retail and wholesale CCIVs separately). For example, an additional retail-specific director’s duty would include ensuring that the assets of a CCIV’s sub‑fund are valued at regular intervals; and
  • is generally responsible for the conduct of the CCIV, and will therefore be subject to criminal and/or civil penalty provisions for its breaches of its ASFL or the relevant law – as the CCIV has no other officers or employees aside from the single corporate director, the CCIV will itself not be responsible for breaches in its name.

Legislative knock on effect

The new law means there will be amendments to other legislation to support the implementation of CCIVs, such as amendments to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001 (Cth), Personal Property Securities Act 2009 (Cth), and tax legislation. 

The ASX is also consulting on proposed changes to the ASX Listing Rules and ASX Operating Rules to allow for the listing of CCIVs and sub-funds. 

Amendments to tax legislation will ensure that the tax treatment of CCIVs aligns with the existing treatment of attribution managed investment trusts (AMITs), providing investors with the benefits of flow-through taxation (subject to a sub-fund not tripping up the traditional public trading trust test that applies to managed investment schemes).


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