Representatives from investment funds told the paper that if investors sell their investment certificates on the stock exchange before the fund closes, they should, in theory, be able to avoid paying tax on any capital gains.

'Investment certificates issued by closed funds are securities, and selling securities on the stock exchange is exempt from tax until the end of 2003 under the personal income tax regulations,' Zbigniew Jagiello, Chairman of the Pioneer Pekao investment fund company, explained.

However, although a number of investment funds have announced that they are planning to launch closed-end funds in the new year, everyone is playing their cards very close to their chest, partly so as to maintain an advantage over their competitors, but partly through fear that the Finance Ministry could, at the last minute, present a different interpretation to the crucial provision in the personal income tax legislation.