UCITS Directive

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On May 3, the European Securities and Markets Association (ESMA) published final reports on technical advice to the European Commission (EC) on integrating sustainability risks and factors in the core EU asset management directives:

  1. the Undertakings for the Collective Investment in Transferable Securities (UCITS) Directive;
  2. the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD); and
  3. the revised Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II) and the Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation (MiFIR).

Continue Reading ESMA Publishes Final Reports on Technical Advice on Integrating Sustainability Risks and Factors in the UCITS Directive, AIFMD and MiFID II

On December 6, HM Treasury published updated versions of the draft Collective Investment Scheme (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018 (Draft CIS (Brexit) SI) and the related explanatory information.

Draft CIS (Brexit) SI ensures that the regime established under the UCITS IV Directive for investment funds and their managers continues to operate effectively after the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union (Brexit) on March 29, 2019 (Exit Day). It includes amendments to the retained provisions of delegated acts made under UCITS IV and UK legislation such as the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.
Continue Reading HM Treasury Publishes Updated Draft Brexit Statutory Instrument Relating to Collective Investment Schemes

On October 30, the European Union’s Delegated Regulation 2018/1619, amending Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/438 regarding safe-keeping duties of depositaries (Delegated Regulation), was published in the Official Journal of the European Union.
Continue Reading EU Update on Obligations of Depositaries Under the UCITS Directive

On July 23, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) issued a press release announcing updates to two of its sets of Questions and Answers (Q&As): (1) Q&As relating to the Undertakings for the Collective Investment in Transferable Securities (UCITS) Directive; and (2) those relating to the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD).
Continue Reading ESMA Updates UCITS and AIFMD Q&As

On March 12, as part of the development of the EU’s Capital Markets Union (CMU), the European Commission (EC) published two legislative proposals in relation to the cross-border distribution of collective investment funds within the EU:

  1. a Regulation (Proposed Regulation) facilitating the above and amending existing Regulations on European venture capital funds and European social entrepreneurship funds; and
  2. a Directive (Proposed Directive) amending the Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities (UCITS) IV Directive and the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD).

Continue Reading EC Legislative Proposals on Cross-Border Distribution of Collective Investment Funds

On January 10, the Law Society of England & Wales (Law Society) published its response to HM Treasury’s September 2016 consultation (Consultation) on amending the definition of “financial advice” for the purposes of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) Order 2001 (RAO) (the UK legislation that defines which activities are regulated and with regard to which types of instruments, known in UK regulatory terminology as “the regulatory perimeter”). The Consultation’s aim was to bring the definition in the RAO in line with the definition set out in the Revised Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II).
Continue Reading Law Society Publishes Response to Consultation on the Regulatory Perimeter

On October 12, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) updated its Questions and Answers (Q&A) on the EU Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities (UCITS) Directive. The changes include the addition of clarification: 1) that the term “regulated market in a member state” includes a multilateral trading facility (as defined by the Markets…

On February 25, the UK government published the Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities Regulations 2016 (Regulations) along with an explanatory memorandum and transposition table. The Regulations implement provisions in the EU Undertakings for the Collective Investment of Transferable Securities V Directive (UCITS V) in relation to depositaries and sanctions, among other provisions.The Regulations set out amendments to the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA 2000) and the Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities Regulations 2011 (UCITS Regulations), among others.
Continue Reading UK Government Publishes Implementing Regulations for UCITS V

On February 2, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published a policy statement on the implementation of the Undertakings for the Collective Investment of Transferable Securities V Directive (UCITS V). Policy Statement 16/2 sets out FCA Handbook changes required to implement UCITS V and also the FCA’s feedback on responses received to Part I of the FCA’s Consultation Paper 15/27, released in September 2015.
Continue Reading FCA Publishes Policy Statement on the Implementation of UCITS V