This stands for the French term ""Fonds commun de placement"", a form of open-end fund organized on the basis of a collective investment contract. Parties to this contractual agreement are the investor, the management company and the custodian bank. The fund's assets are property of the management company. By buying units in a FCP, the investor acquires a claim against the management company, which does not constitute a right of joint ownership, but is of a purely contractual nature. This form of fund is particularly prevalent in Continental Europe and is the only form possible to constitute an open-end fund under Swiss law.