The Collective Investment Law — DIFC Law No. 2 of 2010

The Collective Investment Law is the DIFC's primary fund statute: it defines what a Collective Investment Fund is, splits the world into Domestic and Foreign Funds, and — crucially — requires that a Domestic Fund be run by a DFSA-authorised Fund Manager. On top of that spine the DFSA builds the fund tiers that actually drive structuring — Public Funds (retail, most rules), Exempt Funds and Qualified Investor Funds (professional-only, lighter touch) — with the operational detail carried in the DFSA's Collective Investment Rules (CIR) module. For a manager choosing the DIFC, this Law is the frame: it says you need an authorised Fund Manager and which fund box you sit in.

Scope and the core mechanism

The Law works off three moves. First, the definition of a Collective Investment Fund and the arrangements that are carved out of it. Second, the Domestic / Foreign split — a Domestic Fund is established or domiciled in the DIFC and must have a Fund Manager that is an Authorised Firm; a Foreign Fund is marketed in from outside. Third, the delegation of the operating regime to DFSA Rules (the CIR module), where the Public / Exempt / Qualified Investor Fund tiers and their conduct, disclosure and governance requirements live. The full article-by-article text is searchable clause-by-clause through the regulation graph and ask-the-law.

The gotcha: the Law is the shell; the tier you pick (Exempt vs QIF vs Public) is where the real cost and freedom trade-off sits, and that detail is in the CIR module, not the Law. Decide the investor base first, because it decides the tier, which decides the rulebook you live under.