Doubts are mounting that Europe will manage to implement the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) smoothly by July 22, jeopardising the concept of the single market that
regulators have been trying to achieve for decades.
Nicola Smith, chief executive officer of hedge fund administrator Helvetic, says many “are still unsure about the requirements of AIFMD and have not fully understood what is needed”.
Her comments come after Peter De Proft, director general at the European Fund and Asset Management Association (Efama) stated in March that he was concerned that the July 22 deadline is “a little too ambitious”.
De Proft said the Level 2 measures were complicated and that “it would be advisable to have another six months to implement them”.
More worrying, he said, is that there are different levels of interpretation in Europe, which goes against the concept of a single market.
Tilman Lueder, head of the asset management unit at the European Commission, told Funds Europe that with the entry into force of the delegated regulation on April 11, 2013, the commission had adopted all measures to ensure timely application of the AIFMD by July 22 .
A statement from the European Securities and Markets Authority says: “We are aware of the 22 July deadline and are currently working on a number of agreements with the authorities of third countries as a matter of priority… We are nevertheless confident that these agreements will be signed by the AIFMD transposition deadline but, as with any negotiation of this kind we are also dependent on the willingness of the other parties – in this case the relevant third-country authorities – to come to an agreement in time.”
©2013 funds europe
