A significant step towards the July 22 delivery of alternative investment regulations has been made with 27 EU member states and 34 non-EU regulators agreeing to cooperate.
The European Securities and Markets Authority (Esma) has approved co-operation arrangements on behalf of EU regulators – plus regulators in Croatia, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway – with the 34 other bodies that all have responsibility for supervising hedge funds, private equity and real estate funds.
A key element of the agreements is that EU and non-EU authorities will be able to supervise fund managers that operate on a cross-border basis both within the EU and outside.
Information exchange, cross-border on-site visits and mutual assistance for regulatory enforcement are other key elements.
The co-operation agreements are a pre-condition for allowing non-EU alternative managers access to EU markets, or to perform fund management activities on behalf of EU managers, under the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD).
The arrangements also cover co-operation in the cross-border supervision of depositaries.
Steven Maijoor, Esma chair, says: “The approval by EU securities regulators of these co-operation arrangements is a significant step towards the successful implementation of the supervision of alternative investment funds by the July 2013 deadline, and their negotiation is a key achievement for Esma in its co-ordinating role for EU securities markets.”
He says the agreements “set high standards for co-operation on the supervision of cross-border alternative funds, thereby strengthening investor protection and the global consistency of supervision”.
Agreements with the 34 non-EU regulators are contained in memoranda of understanding, which will be published shortly.
Negotiations with other countries continue.
©2013 funds europe
