CSSF Publishes Guidance On AIFMD For Luxembourg-Based Managers

Luxembourg's financial regulator, the Financial Sector Supervisory Authority, has published practical guidance for alternative fund managers on how they should approach the issue of becoming registered or authorised under the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive, which was transposed into Luxembourg law through legislation that came into force on July 15.

The CSSF says any entity established in Luxembourg that could potentially be categorised as an alternative manager under the new law must conduct a self-assessment of whether it qualifies, and if so, whether it will be subject to a requirement for registration or authorisation.

The Luxembourg legislation stipulates that the external manager of an alternative fund, or where relevant a self-managed fund itself, must be registered or authorised. Non-regulated alternative funds, vehicles structured as Part II funds under the grand duchy's 2010 investment funds law, Specialised Investment Funds and SICARs must all conduct a self-investment process to determine whether they qualify as self-managed funds (internal AIFMs) subject to registration or authorisation.

An entity that requires registration under the directive, falling outside the asset thresholds for full authorisation, must register with the CSSF immediately. Managers subject to authorisation must apply to the CSSF by July 22, 2014. Forms for registration or authorisation can be downloaded from the CSSF website.

All managers must comply with the reporting requirements set out in Article 3 of the Luxembourg law (for entities subject to registration) or Article 22 (those subject to full authorisation).

The CSSF says practical...