Irish Central Bank publishes Q&A on AIFMD
15 May 2013
The Central Bank of Ireland has published a questions and answers document on AIFMD which addresses many of the common queries raised in relation to implementation of the Directive in Ireland. In particular transitional requirements for existing EU and non-EU managers and their AIFs are covered.
The document can be found at this link.
Irish Central Bank issues AIF Rulebook and is ready to accept AIFMD applications
15 May 2013
The Central Bank has published the latest draft of the AIF Rulebook. The AIF Rulebook is the Central Bank’s rulebook in relation to AIFs which contains chapters concerning Retail Investor AIF, Qualifying Investor AIF, AIF Management Companies, Fund Administrators, Alternative Investment Fund Managers, AIF Depositaries and Grandfathering Arrangements. The AIF Rulebook is available here.
AIFMD: Prepare for takeoff
Individual EU Member States have until July 2013 to implement the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive into their national law. Read more about AIFMD here.
The French regulator AMF published a Q&A for AIFMs
16 April 2013
The Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) has published a Q&A document (PDF, 760 KB) to help asset management companies to prepare for the implementation of the AIFMD. It is designed as a user guide for existing asset management companies and provides among other points a practical description of getting an authorisation under the AIFM Directive. Asset management companies now have the possibility to file an AIFM authorisation application with the AMF
ESMA publishes draft regulatory technical standards on types of AIFMs
2 April 2013
ESMA has published its draft regulatory technical standards (RTS) (PDF, 117KB) to determine types of AIFMs, where relevant in the application of the AIFMD.
The draft RTS distinguish AIFMs managing AIF of the open-ended type and AIFMs managing AIFs of the closed-ended type. The definitions set out in the RTS are needed in order to apply the rules on liquidity management, the valuation procedures and the transitional provisions of the AIFMD. The document will now go to the European Commission for final adoption.
Overview: AIFMD Transposition across EU Member States
28 March 2013
Member states will have to transpose the AIFMD into national law by 22 July 2013.
This overview provides you with the State of Play (PDF, 570 KB) for each Member State.
European Commission publishes AIFMD questions and responses
Wednesday March 27th
The European Commission has published questions and related responses to queries it has received regarding the interpretation of the AIFMD. The questions and answers are grouped according to the specific issues they relate to and specific issues can be found here.
AIFMD Commission Delegated Regulation
The AIFMD Commission Delegated Regulation (PDF, 481KB) was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 22 March 2013. It will enter into force on 20 days after publication (11 April) and will apply from 22 July 2013.
HM Treasury published a second consultation on AIFMD transposition
13 March 2013
HM Treasury published a second consultation (PDF, 240KB) to transpose the AIFMD. The transposition into UK law will require a further set of policy decisions which could not be consulted on in time for the first consultation paper. Draft regulations (PDF, 50 KB) accompany this consultation paper and these are intended to be combined with the draft regulations attached to the first consultation paper. Comments on the consultation can be made until 5 April 2013
Irish Central Bank publishes revised draft of the AIF Handbook
1 February 2013
Following a consultation with the Irish funds industry in late 2012 (CP60), the Central Bank of Ireland has published a revised draft of its new AIF Handbook which consolidates and revises all Regulatory rules for non-UCITS. While the Handbook will be subject to an additional technical review, it will assist the industry in preparing for the implementation of the AIFMD by July 2013. The final AIF Handbook will be effective from 22 July 2013. Read the AIF Handbook revised draft at this link (PDF, 2.3MB).
ESMA: Final Report on Guidelines on Remuneration of AIFMs
11 February 2013
AIFMs will be asked to introduce sound and prudent remuneration policies and organisational structures which avoid conflicts of interest that may lead to excessive risk taking. Key elements include:
- AIFs internal governance: that sound and prudent remuneration policies/ structures exist and are not circumvented
- Categories of staff covered, whose activities might have material impact on the AIFs risk profile (senior management, risk takers, control functions, and similar)
- Types of remuneration covering all forms and amounts of payment or benefit paid by the AIFM/AIF (Incl. carried interest, transfer of units), being divided into fixed (without linkage to performance) and variable (additional remuneration due to performance)
Guidelines (PDF, 900KB) will apply from 22 July 2013, subject to transitional provisions of the AIFMD.
ESMA released Level 2 on AIFMD
The long awaited Delegated Act supplementing the Alternative Investment Fund Manager Directive (AIFMD) was released on 19 December 2012. This Delegated Regulation* supplements Directive 2011/61/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to exemptions, general operating conditions, depositaries, leverage, transparency and supervision. This provides an extensive set of detailed implementing measures and technical rules on a wide range of business areas.
Key highlights include:
- The act takes the form of a regulation and does not need any national transposition, but will be directly applicable in all EU Member States. However, European Parliament and Council have a period of three months, which may be extended to six months, to object to this act. If there are no objections, the Delegated Regulation will be applicable from 22 July 2013.
- The Regulation specifies the delegation rules of the AIFMD and, in particular, sets out the definition of a letter-box entity. This may have a significant impact on the business and/or operating models of some alternative fund managers.
- The duties of the depositary and the liability regime are defined in a strict manner. This may impact operating and business models of some depositaries and lead to different fee structures.
- The rules set out by the Commission diverge on some key points from ESMA’s technical advice from November 2011.
ESMA clarifies rules for AIFs and their AIFM
19 December
The closing date for responses to these consultations is 1 February 2013. The Guidelines and Technical Standards will be finalised in the first half of 2013.
German government adopted draft law of AIFMD transposition
12 December
On 12 December 2012, the German government adopted a draft of the law to transpose the AIFMD into German law (Government Draft), including the new ‘Capital Investment Act’. This act is set to replace the existing German Investment Act. The new regime would then cover UCITS and alternative investment funds as well as their managers. The upcoming KAGB would therefore create a single framework covering both rules for products and managers. As the next step, the Government Draft will have to be presented to the German parliament and go through the parliamentary process.
Irish Central Bank publishes consultation paper on AIFMD
October 2012
On 30 October 2012 the Irish Central Bank published a consultation paper CP60 (PDF, 2.4MB)* on the implementation of the AIFMD that closed on 11 December 2012. The Central Bank has drafted a revised framework for the regulation of non-UCITS investment funds, creating a single ‘AIF handbook’ to replace NU Notices and Guidance Notes. When the consultation process is complete the Central Bank intends to issue an interim AIF Handbook on which the industry can rely as a guide to the proposed post-AIFMD regulatory framework.
ESMA publishes consultation paper on remuneration
June 2012
ESMA has published a consultation paper* on the proposed guidelines on remuneration of AIFM. These funds will be asked to introduce sound and prudent remuneration policies and structures with the aim of increasing investor protection and avoiding conflicts of interest that may lead to excessive risk taking. The key elements of the guidelines include:
- Types of remuneration
- Who determines the remuneration policy
- How to identify the categories of staff covered
- Governance of remuneration
- General requirements on risk alignment
- Disclosure requirements
Further information
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