India signs AIFMD agreements

India’s securities regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), signed cooperation agreements with 28 European securities regulators (including the UK, France and Germany) that permit India fund managers to continue marketing in the EU via private placement regimes.

The agreements also enable India-based GPs to manage European funds and permit EU fund managers to manage or market funds in India.

The signing comes in the wake of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD), which requires non-EU fund managers to adopt certain provisions or apply regulatory measures equivalent to the directive or be barred from the EU’s alternative funds market. The directive went into effect last month following five years of closely monitored rulemaking.

The agreements come in the form of a memorandum of understanding (MoU). The content of the MoU was agreed with pan-European securities regulator the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) back in May 2013.

The MoUs will give both EU and non-EU regulators permission to supervise fund managers that operate on a cross-border basis both within and outside the EU. National regulators will also share information, conduct on-site visits and assist one another in enforcing securities laws.