AIFMD Q&A – Twelfth Edition published

On 23 January 2015, the Central Bank published the twelfth edition of its AIFMD Q&A.

The updated Q&A relate to Delegation, Transitional Arrangements and Disclosure (ID1085, ID1086-1087 and ID1088).

Delegation

The Central Bank requires certain investment managers to complete a notification process prior to acting as discretionary investment managers for Irish funds. The Central Bank has confirmed that this notification process does not apply in circumstances where a delegated investment manager is being appointed to an AIF not authorised by the Central Bank. The delegating AIFM must nonetheless comply with Regulation 21 of the AIFM Regulations and inform the Central Bank of any delegation arrangements.

Transitional Arrangements

The Central Bank has confirmed that it will apply the investment manager notification process in respect of a Non-EU AIFM who will be the designated AIFM to a QIAIF. The Non-EU AIFM will be required to complete the Investment Manager Notification Form.

The Central Bank permits AIFMs authorised in the EEA to manage and market an AIF in Ireland or act as a delegate investment manager to an Irish authorised AIFM so long as the supervisory authority of the AIFM has entered into ESMA’s Multilateral Memorandum of Understanding.

Disclosure

The Central Bank has clarified that it is sufficient to disclose in periodic reports:

• The percentage of the AIF’s assets which are subject to special arrangements arising from their illiquid nature
• The current risk profile of the AIF and the risk management systems employed by the AIFM to manage those risks
• The total amount of leverage employed by that AIF

In contrast, any new arrangements for managing the liquidity of the AIF must be disclosed immediately. Any changes to the maximum level of leverage, any right of re-use of collateral and any guarantee under leveraging arrangements must be disclosed without undue delay. It should be noted that the AIFMD Rulebook provides that a significant alteration of leverage limits would require shareholder approval.

ESMA Publishes Update to Q&A on the AIFMD
On 9 January 2015, ESMA published updated Q&A regarding the application of the AIFMD. In particular, the Q&A document provides clarity on the following aspects:

• Reporting of subscription and redemption (AIFMs should report the value of subscription and redemption orders and not the number of subscription and redemption orders)
• Reporting on change in NAV per month
• Reporting on the percentage of gross and net investment returns per month
• Reporting on aggregated information at the level of the AIFM

European Commission adopts Delegated Regulation on information to be provided by NCAs to ESMA under AIFMD

On 18 December 2014, the European Commission published the text of the Delegated Regulation on information to be provided by national competent authorities (NCAs) to ESMA under AIFMD. NCAs are required to report quarterly to ESMA, information on AIFMs and AIFs under their supervision and the Delegated Regulation specifies the content of this information.  

The Delegated Regulation will come into force 20 days after its publication in the Official Journal of the EU.

Contributed by Vincent Coyne