Policy options for implementing the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive
HM Treasury today launched a consultation on policy options for transposing the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive into UK law. The Treasury’s accompanying statement is here and the consultation document is here.
From the Treasury statement:
“Background
The Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive is due to be transposed into national law by 22 July 2013. The Directive will have a significant impact on firms that run any type of collective investment scheme other than a UCITS and provides a number of opportunities and risks.
The Directive establishes an EU-wide harmonised framework for monitoring and supervising risks posed by Alternative Investment Fund Managers and the funds they manage. It covers the investment managers of hedge funds, private equity funds, and real estate funds among others and is therefore relevant to many different types of asset manager.
The Directive will also affect firms providing relevant services such as prime brokerage facilities, external valuation, client administration, and marketing and distribution.
Informal Consultation
Transposition into UK law will require a number of high-level policy decisions as well as a considerable number of operational ones. This discussion paper covers the policy issues and is a first step toward implementation of the Directive.
We would like to hear from UK-based fund managers that deem at least part of their regular business as managing AIFs (including UCITS management companies if they manage AIFs as well), discretionary investment managers, operators of unregulated collective investment schemes, investment companies that do not employ an external fund manager, depositaries and custodians holding the assets of AIFs, prime brokerage facilities, investors, trade bodies, and others interested in the Directive and its transposition.”
The consultation closes on 4 May 2012.
See also: ESMA publishes discussion paper on key concepts of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive and types of AIFM – February 2012
FSA discussion paper on the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive – January 2012.
For more on the AIFMD, see our Private equity category.
UPDATE 23 May 2012: The CLLS Regulatory Law Committee has responded to the Treasury consultation. The CLLS response discusses at length whether the definition of “collective investment scheme” in section 235 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 should be retained alongside the AIFMD definition of “alternative investment fund” (it argues not) and comments on the many difficulties caused by the CIS definition.
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