Global Registration Services - Market Update Q3 2020

Published date16 October 2020
Subject MatterFinance and Banking, Government, Public Sector, Financial Services, Fund Management/ REITs, Constitutional & Administrative Law
Law FirmMaples Group
AuthorMs Emma Conaty and Eimear Clarke

United Kingdom

UK FCA Reopen the TPR

Further to our client update on 7 July 20201,the UK FCA re-opened the notification window for the Temporary Permissions Regime ("TPR") on 30 September 2020.

Firms that had not previously notified the FCA of their intention to use the TPR can now do so; fund managers can also update their previously submitted notifications before the end of the transition period on 31 December.

Any firms and fund managers that intend to update their previously submitted TPR notification should notify the FCA no later than 9 December 2020, with all updated and new notifications to be submitted by 30 December 2020.

Europe

European Commission Issue Communication on Readiness at the End of the Transition Period between the UK and the EU

On 9 July 2020, the European Commission issued a communication2 on readiness at the end of the Brexit transition period on 31 December 2020. The communication is of particular significance to the financial services industry at Section B1 (pp.12 - 15) of the communication, where key points around EU and UK equivalence are discussed, and the Commission outlines those specific areas where an equivalence decision will not be taken in the short or medium term.

The Commission has also identified that the central clearing counterparties of derivatives may present a financial stability risk and to address this, they are considering an adoption of a time-limited equivalence decision for the UK in this area.

ESMA Letter on AIFMD Reform

On 18 August 2020, ESMA published a letter3 sent to the European Commission on the upcoming review of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive ("AIFMD"), which sets out its recommendations across a range of different areas. This review is part of the wider action plan on the cross border distribution of investment funds under the Capital Markets Union ("CMU"), which is due to come into effect in August 2021 See also our client update of 14 June 20194.

Some of the key points from a distribution perspective include:

(a) Provision of local facilities: removing the requirement to appoint a local agent when marketing an AIF or UCITS fund in certain member states and granting authority to certain management entities and / or third parties to provide these facilities, on the condition that these facilities are provided in the official language (or one of the official languages) of the relevant member states.

(b) Pre-marketing: A definition of "pre-marketing" will be introduced to enable EU AIFMs to test market interest before establishing an AIF or registering it under Article 31 or Article 32 of AIFMD.

(c) Harmonisation of the AIFMD and UCITS Regimes and harmonised reporting for UCITS funds.

(d) Harmonisation of supervision regarding cross-border entities.

(e) AIFMD reporting regime and data use.

(f) Definitions of "semi-professional investors" "AIFs" and "reverse solicitation", in addition to the definition of "negligence" regarding external valuer liability under AIFMD.

(g) Clarification on the power of Member States to apply additional requirements under their national law to sub-threshold AIFMs.

France

AMF on New Rules Impacting the Marketing of Non-French ESG UCITS Funds Passported for Sale in France

Further to our client update on 31 July 20205, the AMF published their updated position6 with regard to the new rules governing information required from collective investment schemes incorporating non-financial approaches. The main points to note include the following:

(a) All non-French UCITS funds with ESG strategies registered for marketing in France prior to 11 March 2020 are required to...

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