The European Union is making ‘uneven progress’ in implementing the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD), a study shows.
At least five member states – Belgium, Finland, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain – have made little or no progress towards drafting or finalising the required legislation, says the Alternative Investment Management Association (Aima), a trade body for the global hedge fund industry, and Ernst & Young, a consultancy.
Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Italy, Latvia and Romania have drafted laws that are awaiting parliamentary approval. The report authors say they have yet to receive clarification from Estonia, Greece, Lithuania and Poland.
A total of 12 member states have so far transposed the directive into law: the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Sweden and the UK.
Jiri Krol, deputy chief executive at Aima, head of government and regulatory affairs, says “there are still significant areas of uncertainty even in those jurisdictions that have transposed the text”.
Julian Young, Ernst & Young partner for asset management in Europe, the Middle East, India and Africa, says the directive has not yet achieved the single market for non-Ucits products it aimed for.
Financial services companies will have to “operate across a patchwork quilt of regulatory standards for the next few years at least”, he adds.
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