Guernsey’s fund regulator, the Guernsey Financial Services Commission (GFSC), issued marketing rules and a notification form permitting fund managers to market in Europe once the Alternative Investment Fund Managers (AIFM) directive takes effect July 22.
The AIFM directive prohibits non-EU fund managers (including those based in Guernsey) from marketing to professional investors unless they use member states' private placement regimes until at least 2015.
The recently released forms ask Guernsey fund managers to outline which EU (and wider EEA) countries they plan to market their funds. The GFSC has also provided a set of frequently asked questions (FAQs) which will be updated as the EU-wide implementation of the directive unfolds.
In order for a Guernsey-based manager to use a EU member state's private placement regime, the GFSC must have a cooperation agreement with that particular jurisdiction's own regulator.
EU market watchdog the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) signed 34 cooperation agreements with regulators worldwide, including Guernsey, in late May. National EU regulators can now use ESMA's agreement as a template to sign their own bilateral agreements with non-EU countries.
The process of signing cooperation agreements with EU member states is underway, though no formal signings have yet taken place, according to Sinéad Leddy, technical manager of Guernsey finance.
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