Gibraltar: Fund Management/ REITs

There is a moment in every fund formation when someone in the room says “we’ll just do it in Cayman” with the same energy someone orders the house wine at a restaurant they’ve never been to before. Safe. Familiar. Probably fine.

On 15 July 2026, the UK–EU Agreement in respect of Gibraltar enters provisional application, fundamentally altering the operational environment for fund managers. While the treaty does not restore EU passporting or change Gibraltar's domestic fund framework, it eliminates border friction and introduces unprecedented Schengen mobility advantages for Gibraltar residents. How will these changes reshape the calculus for fund principals considering where to base their operations?

Gibraltar's Protected Cell Companies (Amendment) Bill 2026 introduces a framework enabling PCCs authorised as Experienced Investor Funds to issue cell shares as share tokens on distributed ledgers.

Regulation (Eu) No 648/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council on OTC derivatives, central counterparties and trade repositories ("EMIR") entered into force in August 2012

Overview on changes affecting Experienced Investor Funds ("EIFs"): Financial Services (Experienced Investor Fund) Regulations 2018 and the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission's statement on EIFs investing in digital assets.

The long awaited appeal in Weal v FSC has now been heard and the Judgment of the Court of Appeal handed down (it is available from the Gibraltar Court Service website).

Gibraltar introduced its new Experienced Investor Fund Regulations on the 12th April 2012 with the aim of continuing to develop the jurisdiction as an alternative EU Fund Domicile.

Revisions to the Swiss Collective Investment Schemes Act were passed by the Swiss Parliament on September 18th 2012.

Peter Young & Anthony Jimenez report on behalf of the Gibraltar Funds and Investment Association (GFIA).