Gold Magazine September - October 2013, Issue 30 | Página 81

The AIFMD is one of the most rigorously debated pieces
of financial regulation ever to emerge from the EU
“It all depends on the transposition rules
in the countries that they are going to
market to,” says Georges Bock.
For example, Germany’s interpretation
has been strict, he says, with the country
having stated that it will in future accept
only alternative funds that are AIFMDcompliant.
The KPMG report highlights Belgium,
Finland, Spain and France as key states that
missed the deadline for AIFMD readiness.
In France, the courts in June passed
legislation that handed authority for implementation back to financial watchdog the
Autorité des Marchés Financiers, which is
now working on a major overhaul of the
nation’s fund regime.
In Belgium, Finland and Spain only
draft legislation has been published so far,
the report shows. Belgium is planning to
add laws by January 2014 and Spain by the
first quarter of 2014. In Finland, even the
draft law “still leaves some important questions” unanswered, the report warns.
Georges Bock also believes that Belgium,
Finland and Spain are eyeing Germany’s
radical approach to AIFMD implementation, which includes throwing out the old

system of “private placements” through
which cross-border sales have previously
taken place.
He says they may be considering a similar overhaul for their own rules, or in some
cases their failure to comply simply reflects
a focus on other “national priorities”.
Until transposition actually takes place
in a particular EU member state, non-EU
AIFMs should be able to market their
non-EU alternative investment funds to
investors in that member state by use of
the existing private placement regime. It
is important to note, however, that some
member states are contemplating the elimination of the private placement regimes
at such time as the AIFMD is transposed
into law. Therefore, it will be incumbent
upon non-EU AIFMs to conduct their
proper due diligence with respect to their
marketing initiatives.After the date of
transposition, a non-EU AIFM will need
to comply with a number of conditions
(including new reporting and disclosure
requirements) in order to continue to take
advantage of the private placement regime
in a given EU member state.
On the bright side both for EU and
non-EU fund providers, European watchdog the European Securities and Markets
Authority has advised that AIFMD-compliant funds can be marketed in any state
regardless of the compliance status of the
state itself.
Amy Bensted, Preqin’s head of hedge
fund products, says KPMG’s findings are
further evidence of AIFMD chaos.
“There’s definitely a lot of confusion around the AIFMD. There’s
this sense that there’s a need for
some coherent advice to come
through,” she says.
The notoriously laborious
European legislative process and
aggressive lobbying from the
various industries affected by
the directive have contributed
to the EU’s bureaucratic nightmare.
The European
Private Equity
and Venture
Capital Association

describes the
AIFMD as “one
of the most rigorously debated
pieces of financial
regulation ever to emerge from
the EU”, with a staggering 2,000 amendments tabled since the first draft.

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