Tracker, Financial Services Regulation & Compliance - Funds
Domestic
New Central Bank UCITS Regulations, Guidance and Q&A, AIFMD Q&A and Investor Money Regulations Q&A
The Central Bank published new Central Bank UCITS Regulations which will commence on 1 November 2015 (Central Bank UCITS Regulations). The Central Bank UCITS Regulations supplement existing legislative requirements, in particular the European Communities (Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities) Regulations 2011. For the most part, the rules in the Central Bank UCITS Regulations are the same as the conditions set out in the Central Bank’s UCITS Notices but a small number of policy changes are included. The Central Bank has also restructured its UCITS guidance to reflect the publication of the Central Bank UCITS Regulations.
The Central Bank issued a markets update on 5 October 2015 which includes:
- The Central Bank UCITS Regulations.
- The restructured UCITS guidance which reflects the publication of the Central Bank UCITS Regulations and will also come into effect on 1 November 2015. The current UCITS guidance in the form of Guidance Notes) will remain on the Central Bank website until that date and will be removed thereafter.
- UCITS Q&A Seventh Edition which reflect the introduction of the Central Bank UCITS Regulations 2015.
- Feedback statement on CP77 (Consultation on publication of UCITS Rulebook).
- Feedback statement on CP84 (Consultation on the adoption of ESMA’s revised guidelines on ETFs and other UCITS issues).
- AIFMD Q&A Sixteenth Edition with new questions on Directed Brokerage, Board Composition and Non- material change.
- First edition of the Investor Money Regulations Q&A.
The Central Bank subsequently published an updated UCITS Q&A Eighth Edition which provides additional guidance with respect to the transitional provisions for the Central Bank UCITS Regulations.
EU AND INTERNATIONAL
AIFMD passport
On 13 October 2015, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published a statement by Steven Maijoor, ESMA Chair, to the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee (ECON) of the European Parliament on ESMA's ongoing work on the extension of the passport under the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) to non-EU alternative investment fund managers (AIFMs). ESMA will be working to complete its assessment of Hong Kong, Singapore and USA with a view to reaching a definitive conclusion on whether to extend the passport, begin to assess a second group of non-EU jurisdictions: Australia, Canada, Japan, the Cayman Islands, the Isle of Man and Bermuda and establish the framework which will be required if the passport is extended to one or more non-EU countries. This will involve preparing for ESMA's role in the functioning of the passporting system and strengthening supervisory co-operation.
Cyber-security for hedge fund managers
On 17 September 2015, the Hedge Fund Standards Board (HFSB) published a memorandum on cyber-security for hedge fund managers. The memo has been added to the HFSB "toolbox" materials, which complement its hedge fund standards.
Review of the EuVECA Regulation and the EuSEF Regulation
On 30 September 2015, the European Commission published a consultation on a review of the European Venture Capital Funds Regulation (EuVECA Regulation) and the European Social Entrepreneurship Funds Regulation (EuSEF Regulation). This is part of the CMU initiative and aims to review the current performance of the EuVECA Regulation and the EuSEF Regulation and to identify measures that could increase the use of the passports for EuVECAs and EuSEFs. CMU includes revision of the EuVECA Regulation and the EuSEF Regulation in the third quarter of 2016.
For further information please contact a member of the Financial Regulation team.
Date published: 09 November 2015