Regulatory notices
Earlier this week, the Central Bank updated several forms used in the authorisation process of Irish UCITS and AIFs.
These forms are:
• UCITS Application Form Section 1 Information
• Qualifying AIF Application Form Sections 1 & 2
• Retail Investor AIF Application Form Section 1
Another form used to request the access to the ONR system within the application process of QIAIFs has been also amended:
• Qualifying Investor AIF (“QIAIF”) – The Central Bank of Ireland Portal Access Application Form
Last week, the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier communicated on a new filing method made available to AIFMs for their Annex IV reporting.
From 2 November 2023, alternative investment fund managers will therefore be able to transmit their AIFM reporting through this new solution.
On 19 September 2023, the FCA communicates on the Temporary Marketing Period Regime for funds.
Background
Introduced by the FCA in the context of the Brexit, the TMPR allows certain EEA-based funds that were passporting into the UK at the end of the transition period to continue to be marketed in the UK in the same manner as they were before the transition period ended (again, subject to having notified to the FCA before the end of the transition period).
They can do this for a limited period while seeking UK recognition to continue to market in the UK. At launch of the TMPR, FCA announced it will contact firms with a landing slot for fund seeking recognition.
On 14 September 2023, the European Commission launched two consultations on the implementation of SFDR. A first consultation especially targets an audience familiar with this regulation and a second public consultation is aimed at a wider range of stakeholders.
These consultations are an important part of the assessment process of the implementation of this regulation and will be complemented by workshops and roundtables. This assessment intends to address the legal certainty, useability, and the capacity of the regulation to avoid greenwashing.
CSSF published yesterday the Circular 23/840 informing in-scope entities that it will apply the ESMA Guidelines on MiFID II product governance requirements as from 3 October 2023.
We have communicated extensively on the changes ESMA made on the Guidelines in a previous notification.
On 4 September 2023, the CSSF published an amended version of its standardised UCITS prospectus template.
We provide attached a track changes version together with the new template.
On 6 September, the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier in Luxembourg published a Communication informing that on 29 August 2023, it had contacted by email Luxembourg-based UCITS managers and AIF managers falling within the scope of the Common Supervisory Action (CSA) on the integration of sustainability risks and disclosures.
Based on a harmonised methodology defined by ESMA, the CSSF will request UCITS Managers and AIFMs to complete a questionnaire focusing more closely on greenwashing risks. In the second stage, it will request UCITS Managers and AIFMs to complete a questionnaire dedicated to the integration of sustainability risks and factors in the organisational arrangements of UCITS Managers and AIFMs and to the transparency disclosures at IFM and product level.
On 3 August 2023, ESMA published its revised Guidelines on MiFID II product governance requirements in all official European languages meaning that they will become applicable beginning of next month.
Last week, the Luxembourg Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier published its report on marketing communications under the regulation on cross-border distribution of funds covering the period 2021 to date.
This report is based on the thematic review launched in 2022. The Commission collected information on marketing communication from a sample of fund managers to verify the compliance with the article 4 of the CBDF Regulation. The findings will also communicate to ESMA as required to be done every two years.