On 19 April 2012 the Ministry of Finance submitted a bill to the lower house of the Dutch parliament providing for the implementation of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (the "AIFMD") in Dutch law (the "Bill").
The AIFMD introduces fundamental changes to the supervision of managers of investment institutions that do not constitute undertakings for collective investment in transferable securities (UCITS). The institutions covered include both hedge funds and private equity funds in addition to other types of funds, such as real estate funds, certain equity and bond funds, and funds of funds. The institutions covered also include managers that are not currently subject to supervision because they fall under an exception or exemption.
The Bill is an important step in the implementation of the AIFMD in the Netherlands. Besides the Bill, this newsletter also discusses a number of important steps that have been taken at EU level to flesh out the legislative framework laid down in the directive. We will discuss the following subjects:
1. The Bill
The Bill has been published together with the accompanying explanatory memorandum (the "Explanatory Memorandum") and a report issued after the Council of State had rendered its advice.
2. Draft AIFMD Implementation Regulation
The draft AIFMD Implementation Regulation was published by the European Commission at the end of March.
3. ESMA Discussion Paper
On 23 February 2012, ESMA (the European Securities and Markets Authority) published a discussion paper on the interpretation of a number of important concepts in the AIFMD.
In addition, ESMA announced on 26 April 2012 that it will soon begin discussions with non-EU supervisory authorities regarding co-operation in the supervision of managers falling within the scope of the AIFMD. These discussions are intended to lead to a framework agreement, to be laid down in a common Memorandum of Understanding, based on which each individual EU supervisory authority can subsequently enter into specific agreements with its non-EU counterparts.
The focus of this newsletter is on recent developments relating to the AIFMD. We discuss the status of the documents referred to above and point out a few of their important provisions. We also devote specific attention to the impact of the recent developments on private equity funds.
Read more »