On 8 April 2021, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) issued its third annual statistical report on the alternative investment fund (AIF) sector. The report has found that the sector increased by 15% in 2019 to EUR 6.8trn in net assets from EUR 5.9trn in 2018. The main findings in the report include: The … Continue Reading
On 30 March 2021, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) updated its Q&As on the application of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD). ESMA has added two new Q&As on ESMA’s guidelines on performance fees in UCITS and certain types of alternative investment funds. The new Q&As provide clarification on the crystallisation of … Continue Reading
On 30 March 2021, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) updated its Q&As on the application of the UCITS Directive. ESMA has added two new Q&As on ESMA’s guidelines on performance fees in UCITS and certain types of alternative investment funds. The Q&As provide clarification on the crystallisation of the performance fees and on … Continue Reading
On 26 March 2021, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) issued a consultation paper on potential reforms of the EU Money Market Funds Regulation (MMFR). The consultation paper: Presents an overview of the EU MMF market. Describes certain key features of the issues faced by MMFs during the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. Presents … Continue Reading
On 24 March 2021, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) issued the results of its 2020 common supervisory action (CSA) on UCITS liquidity risk management. The CSA shows that the overall level of compliance with the applicable rules is satisfactory in most cases, but there is scope for improvement for some of the UCITS … Continue Reading
On 3 February 2021, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published a letter it had sent to the European Commission concerning the review of the European Long Term Investment Funds (ELTIF) Regulation. In the letter ESMA highlights some areas of the ELTIF Regulation where improvements could be made. ESMA has issued the letter in … Continue Reading
On 1 February 2021, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published a final report on implementing technical standards (ITS) under the Regulation on cross-border distribution of funds. The final report follows a consultation paper that ESMA published in March 2020 on the proposed draft ITS relating to the publications to be made by Member … Continue Reading
On 6 January 2021, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) announced that it was launching a Common Supervisory Action (CSA) with Member State national competent authorities (NCAs) on the supervision of costs and fees of UCITS across the EU. The CSA will be conducted during 2021. The CSA will assess entities’ compliance with the … Continue Reading
On 17 December 2020, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published a final report containing guidelines on Article 25 of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD). The objective of the guidelines is to establish consistent, efficient and effective supervisory practices within the European System of Financial Supervision (ESFS) and to ensure the common, … Continue Reading
On 16 December 2020, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published a report containing the 2020 update of the guidelines on money market fund (MMF) stress tests. The update takes account of MMFs recent experience during March 2020, particularly in relation to redemption scenarios. The report includes: Unchanged principle-based guidelines on stress testing the … Continue Reading
On 4 December 2020, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) updated its validation rules regarding the Money Market Fund Regulation (MMFR). The proposed changes are not related to the published XML schemas. The changes only provide clarifications on existing validation rules in order to fix inconsistencies or ease the understanding of the rules. It … Continue Reading
On 20 November 2020, the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) published a diagnostic report analysing the events that occurred in the money market funds (MMFs) sector during the market turmoil in March 2020. At the same time, IOSCO has also published a thematic review assessing the implementation of selected IOSCO recommendations issued in 2012 … Continue Reading
On 19 November 2020, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published a speech on future challenges for fund managers. During the course of this speech ESMA’s Executive Director, Verena Ross, provides some thoughts on the outlook for the asset management sector from a supervisory perspective. In particular, the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) … Continue Reading
On 12 November 2020, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) issued a report, Recommendation of the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB) on liquidity risk in investment funds. The report follows an ESRB recommendation that was published on 6 May 2020 that asked ESMA to: coordinate with Member State competent authorities to undertake a focused … Continue Reading
On 12 November 2020, the European Securities and Markets Authority published its first annual report on the use by Member State competent authorities (NCAs) of sanctions under the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD). ESMA has prepared the annual report in accordance with Article 48(3) of the AIFMD. According to this article ESMA is to … Continue Reading
On 12 November 2020, the European Securities and Markets Authority published its 2019 annual report on the use by Member State competent authorities (NCAs) of sanctions under the UCITS IV Directive. This latest annual report is prepared in accordance with Article 99e(1) of the UCITS IV Directive. According to this article, NCAs shall provide ESMA … Continue Reading
On 9 November 2020, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) issued a consultation paper concerning guidelines on marketing communications under Regulation 2019/1156 on facilitating cross-border distribution of collective investment undertakings (the Regulation). Article 4(6) of the Regulation requires ESMA to issue guidelines by 2 August 2021, and thereafter update those guidelines periodically, on the … Continue Reading
On 5 November 2020, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) issued the official translations of its guidelines on performance fees in UCITS and certain types of alternative investment funds (AIFs). Member State competent authorities have two months in which to notify ESMA whether they comply or intend to comply with the guidelines. Our earlier … Continue Reading
On 22 October 2020, the European Commission launched a public consultation on the review of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD). The public consultation follows the European Commission’s review report sent to the European Parliament and the Council on 10 June 2020. The review report concluded that, while the AIFMD has contributed to the … Continue Reading
On 19 October 2020, the European Commission launched a public consultation on EU rules for long-term investment funds. European long-term investment funds (ELTIFs) is an EU scheme to facilitate investment – through alternative investment funds – in longer-term assets such as transport and social infrastructure projects (energy, hospitals, social housing), property and small firms. The … Continue Reading
On 2 October 2020, the European Securities and Markets Authority announced it was updating the validations of the technical instructions for reporting under the Money Market Funds Regulation (MMF Regulation). ESMA states that the changes being made are not related to the published XML schemas, rather they add new warning type validations or provide clarifications … Continue Reading
On 16 September 2020, the European Commission issued an inception impact assessment concerning proposed amendments to the Regulation on European long-term investment funds (ELTIFs). The impact assessment notes that the current challenge with the ELTIF regime is that, to date, the initial take-up of ELTIFs by the market has been slow, with only a limited … Continue Reading
On 26 August 2020, the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (Autoriteit Financiële Markten, the AFM) announced that it started a follow-up investigation into the monitoring of transactions and the reporting of unusual transactions by investment firms and investment funds. An earlier investigation from 2019 showed deficiencies in these areas. In 2019, the AFM investigated … Continue Reading
On 15 July 2020, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) issued a final report containing guidelines on disclosure requirements under the Prospectus Regulation. The guidelines provide guidance to financial market participants regarding the disclosure of financial and non-financial information in a prospectus. The purpose of the guidelines is to ensure that market participants have … Continue Reading
