AIFMD WEEK: Implementation far from complete

GPs in a total of eight EU countries are still waiting to see how their local policymakers will interpret, or possibly gold-plate, the EU Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) as it is written into national law.

Iceland, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia and Spain all missed the July 22 deadline to implement the directive. Poland and Portugal have yet to begin writing the legislation needed to transpose the directive. Romania, Slovenia and Lithuania have published draft AIFMD regulations, with implementation expected in the coming months.

Spain’s national regulator, the Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores (CNMV), issued a document on how GPs should comply with the directive until its implementation is completed, which is expected later this year, according to a KPMG report.

In those countries that have yet to transpose the directive, the delay is hindering local fund managers’ ability to raise cash. Until the AIFMD work is completed, managers in these countries cannot obtain a pan-EU marketing passport offered to managers authorized under the directive, nor can they use individual countries’ private placement routes as EU-based managers fully subject to AIFMD.

“Unfortunately, like with many pieces of regulatory reform we have seen negotiated and applied in recent past, AIFMD implementation has proven to be more complex than originally expected, not only for the industry but also for the regulatory community,” said in a statement Jack Inglis, head of industry trade body the Alternative Investment Management Association.

Even where the AIFMD has been implemented, some non-EU managers are facing marketing roadblocks until related rulemaking is completed. In France, non-EU managers must register with the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) to solicit investors, however the AMF has yet to release its registration forms.

“Marketing in France is currently literally impossible. And there is no idea from AMF when this will be sorted,” said one UK-based regulatory lawyer. The AMF was unable to immediately respond to a request for comment.