AIMA

17 April 2012

The Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA), the global hedge fund industry association, has published detailed analysis of the European Commission’s draft implementing rules for the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) which shows substantial policy differences between the Commission text and the advice provided by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA). 

Key areas where the Commission text diverges substantially from the ESMA advice include third country provisions, depositaries, delegation, leverage, own funds, professional indemnity insurance, appointment of prime brokers and calculation of assets under management.

Andrew Baker, AIMA CEO, said: “This is an exercise attempting to shed more light on the process. We tried not to focus on mere drafting or technical detail here but highlight substantial changes of policy that, if implemented, will have a major impact on the EU and global asset management industry.

“We urge the Commission to follow ESMA’s advice, which was published after a very thorough and highly technical process involving representatives of the EU’s national regulatory authorities and which we assume is fully in line with the Directive. 

“We also fully respect the Commission's right to diverge from ESMA advice but we believe that, to avoid any unintended consequences, changes should be properly assessed and consulted with the public before any final decisions are made."

The Commission is intending to implement AIFMD swiftly through the format of a “Regulation” which does not allow flexibility of implementation at a national level and is directly applicable. The Commission gave EU member states only two weeks to respond to its new text.

The AIMA paper - Analysis of divergences between the EU Commission’s draft regulation implementing the AIFMD and the ESMA advice - can be downloaded here:
www.aima.org/objects_store/aifmd_divergences_from_esma_advice_-_aima_note_-_ec.pdf.
 

- Ends –
 

For media enquiries, please contact Dominic Tonner, AIMA’s Communications Manager. Tel: +44 (0)20 7822 8380; Email: dtonner@aima.org

 
About AIMA

As the global hedge fund association, the Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA) has over 1,300 corporate members (with over 6,000 individual contacts) worldwide, based in over 40 countries.

Members include hedge fund managers, fund of hedge funds managers, prime brokers, legal and accounting firms, investors, fund administrators and independent fund directors. They all benefit from AIMA’s active influence in policy development, its leadership in industry initiatives, including education and sound practice manuals and its excellent reputation with regulators worldwide.

AIMA is a dynamic organisation that reflects its members’ interests and provides them with a vibrant global network. AIMA is committed to developing industry skills and education standards and is a co-founder of the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst designation (CAIA) – the industry’s first and only specialised educational standard for alternative investment specialists. For further information, please visit AIMA’s website, www.aima.org. 

Return to Media Release listing page