AIMA

26 September 2011

The Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA), the global hedge fund association, has expressed concerns over how the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) would apply to non-EU managers and funds under proposals by a task force of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA).

ESMA is responsible for giving advice on specific rules and regulations that will enable the AIFMD to be implemented under an on-going process known as ‘level 2’. AIMA said the latest proposals went further than what was required - or even permitted - by the ‘level 1’ legislation agreed last year by the European Council, the European Commission and Members of the European Parliament. The Directive is scheduled to take effect in July 2013.

In its response to an ESMA consultation exercise on the third country issues, AIMA said the proposed measures, if enacted, could have the practical effect of preventing EU investors from investing in non-EU hedge funds such as those managed from the US, Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia and Switzerland.

AIMA said that many passages of the consultation paper reintroduced the concept of “equivalence”, which was rejected during the level 1 negotiations. Under such strict equivalence, it would be difficult for EU managers to delegate portfolio management to third country asset managers.

AIMA CEO Andrew Baker said: “The concept of equivalence was thoroughly considered, discussed, and, importantly, dismissed during the legislative process in a number of areas, as it was apparent that it would be unworkable.”

Andrew Baker added: “The practical implication of the proposals is that some investments into non-EU jurisdictions would become very difficult, if not impossible. Furthermore, it is difficult to imagine how the equivalence of dozens of jurisdictions could be assessed within the implementation deadline. In some parts of the proposal it's not even clear who would be responsible for such an assessment.”

The AIMA response can be viewed here:
http://www.aima.org/en/document-summary/index.cfm/docid/3231110A-A693-47D6-91E971C9E4CFC461.

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For media enquiries, please contact Christen Thomson, AIMA’s Director of Communications. Tel: +44 (0)20 7822 8380; Email: cthomson@aima.org

About AIMA 

As the global hedge fund association, the Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA) has over 1,250 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.

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