Q & A Database

The GIPS Standards Q&A database contains questions and answers (Q&As) on various searchable topics that provide additional interpretation on an issue. Q&As are considered to be authoritative guidance and must be followed in order to claim compliance with the GIPS standards.

Content from prior Q&As was included in the GIPS Standards Handbook as much as possible and many Q&As were archived. Change the Status drop-down filter to "Archived" to see the archived Q&As.

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Archived

Effective: 1 March, 2006 - 30 November, 2013

Categories: Definition of the Firm

Source: GIPS Handbook, 2nd Edition

Company A is located in New York and has offices in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Dallas that service its U.S. clients, and offices in London, Zurich, and Hong Kong to service its non-U.S. clients. All of the U.S. offices are registered as one investment entity and the non-U.S. offices are each registered with the appropriate national investment regulators. How could Firm A define itself as a firm according to the GIPS standards?

The GIPS standards encourage companies/entities to adopt the broadest, most meaningful definition of a firm. If possible, Company A should consider defining itself to include the assets managed by all of its offices for the purposes of GIPS compliance. However, Company A could define itself as smaller entities based on whether the different regional branches (e.g., U.S., London, Zurich, and Hong Kong) or combination of branches (e.g., London/Zurich, or London/Hong Kong) are held out to clients or potential clients as separate entities.

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