[2] That section provides for an accountant to issue a certificate stating that an individual meets the criteria prescribed in the Corporations Regulations 2001, namely net assets of at least $2.5 million, or a gross income for each of the last two financial years of at least $250,000.
[8] Retail clients requesting treatment as 'elective' professional clients (as defined by Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID)) must satisfy at least two of the following quantitative criteria in assessing the client's expertise, experience and knowledge:[9] s 5 of the Securities Act (1978) defines a sophisticated investor in New Zealand for the purposes of subsection (2CC)(a), a person is wealthy if an independent chartered accountant certifies, no more than 12 months before the offer is made, that the chartered accountant is satisfied on reasonable grounds that the person (a) has net assets of at least $2,000,000; or (b) had an annual gross income of at least $200,000 for each of the last two financial years.
[12] In Singapore, Accredited Investor is defined in Section 4A(1)(a) of the Securities and Futures Act (SFA), Chapter 289.
There is a more restricted US legal criteria of "qualified purchaser", which generally refers to a person or institution with $5,000,000 of investable assets.
[19] Accredited investors also have privileged access to venture capital, hedge funds and transactions involving complex and riskier investments and instruments.