The Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) has been published in the EU Official Journal on 1 July and will come into force on 21 July, the deadline for transposition of the Directive into the national law of Member States being 22 July, 2013.
The Commission had formally asked the CESR replaced by ESMA in 1 January 2011, for technical advice in respect of Level 2 implementing measures. The European Securities and Markets Authority which succeeded the Committee of European Securities Regulators is expected to provide its technical advice in November 2011. On July 13, ESMA has launched an industry-wide consultation by publishing a consultation paper on possible Level 2 implementing measures; participants are required to submit their feedback by the 13 September 2011.
ESMA's general approach has been to align AIFMD operational requirements as much as possible with existing provisions in the UCITS IV Directive (Directive 2009/65/EC) and the MiFID (Directive 2004/39/EC).
This consultation paper sets out ESMA’s draft advice on most of the elements covered under Parts I to III of the Commission’s request, namely, general provisions, authorization and operating conditions, the depositary, transparency requirements and leverage.
Implementing measures on supervision (Part IV of the Commission’s request) are to include details of how the directive’s ‘passport’ for the marketing of alternative funds to sophisticated investors throughout the EU will be extended to managers and funds domiciled in non-EU countries starting from July 2015 however ESMA is not expected to publish detailed measures on this issue as yet.
ESMA is to publish later this summer a further consultation document on its proposals for co-operation arrangements with non-EU regulators for which the rules must also be finalised by July 2013, involving EU managers of funds domiciled and marketed outside the union, and both EU and non-EU managers of non-EU funds marketed in individual Member States under national private placement
