02011L0061 — EN — 26.06.2021 — 004.001

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►B DIRECTIVE 2011/61/EU OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 8 June 2011 on Alternative Investment Fund Managers and amending Directives 2003/41/EC and 2009/65/EC and Regulations (EC) No 1060/2009 and (EU) No 1095/2010 (Text with EEA relevance) (OJ L 174 1.7.2011, p. 1)

Amended by:









▼B

DIRECTIVE 2011/61/EU OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

of 8 June 2011

on Alternative Investment Fund Managers and amending Directives 2003/41/EC and 2009/65/EC and Regulations (EC) No 1060/2009 and (EU) No 1095/2010

(Text with EEA relevance)







CHAPTER I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1

Subject matter

This Directive lays down the rules for the authorisation, ongoing operation and transparency of the managers of alternative investment funds (AIFMs) which manage and/or market alternative investment funds (AIFs) in the Union.

Article 2

Scope

1. Subject to paragraph 3 of this Article and to Article 3, this Directive shall apply to: (a) EU AIFMs which manage one or more AIFs irrespective of whether such AIFs are EU AIFs or non-EU AIFs; (b) non-EU AIFMs which manage one or more EU AIFs; and (c) non-EU AIFMs which market one or more AIFs in the Union irrespective of whether such AIFs are EU AIFs or non-EU AIFs.

2. For the purposes of paragraph 1, the following shall be of no significance: (a) whether the AIF belongs to the open-ended or closed-ended type; (b) whether the AIF is constituted under the law of contract, under trust law, under statute, or has any other legal form; (c) the legal structure of the AIFM.

3. This Directive shall not apply to the following entities: (a) holding companies; (b) institutions for occupational retirement provision which are covered by Directive 2003/41/EC, including, where applicable, the authorised entities responsible for managing such institutions and acting on their behalf referred to in Article 2(1) of that Directive or the investment managers appointed pursuant to Article 19(1) of that Directive, in so far as they do not manage AIFs; (c) supranational institutions, such as the European Central Bank, the European Investment Bank, the European Investment Fund, the European Development Finance Institutions and bilateral development banks, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and other supranational institutions and similar international organisations, in the event that such institutions or organisations manage AIFs and in so far as those AIFs act in the public interest; (d) national central banks; (e) national, regional and local governments and bodies or other institutions which manage funds supporting social security and pension systems; (f) employee participation schemes or employee savings schemes; (g) securitisation special purpose entities.

4. Member States shall take the necessary steps to ensure that AIFMs referred to in paragraph 1 comply with this Directive at all times.

Article 3

Exemptions

1. This Directive shall not apply to AIFMs in so far as they manage one or more AIFs whose only investors are the AIFM or the parent undertakings or the subsidiaries of the AIFM or other subsidiaries of those parent undertakings, provided that none of those investors is itself an AIF.

2. Without prejudice to the application of Article 46, only paragraphs 3 and 4 of this Article shall apply to the following AIFMs: (a) AIFMs which either directly or indirectly, through a company with which the AIFM is linked by common management or control, or by a substantive direct or indirect holding, manage portfolios of AIFs whose assets under management, including any assets acquired through use of leverage, in total do not exceed a threshold of EUR 100 million; or (b) AIFMs which either directly or indirectly, through a company with which the AIFM is linked by common management or control, or by a substantive direct or indirect holding, manage portfolios of AIFs whose assets under management in total do not exceed a threshold of EUR 500 million when the portfolios of AIFs consist of AIFs that are unleveraged and have no redemption rights exercisable during a period of 5 years following the date of initial investment in each AIF.

3. Member States shall ensure that AIFMs referred to in paragraph 2 at least: (a) are subject to registration with the competent authorities of their home Member State; (b) identify themselves and the AIFs that they manage to the competent authorities of their home Member State at the time of registration; (c) provide information on the investment strategies of the AIFs that they manage to the competent authorities of their home Member State at the time of registration; (d) regularly provide the competent authorities of their home Member State with information on the main instruments in which they are trading and on the principal exposures and most important concentrations of the AIFs that they manage in order to enable the competent authorities to monitor systemic risk effectively; and (e) notify the competent authorities of their home Member State in the event that they no longer meet the conditions referred to in paragraph 2.

This paragraph and paragraph 2 shall apply without prejudice to any stricter rules adopted by Member States with respect to AIFMs referred to in paragraph 2.

Member States shall take the necessary steps to ensure that where the conditions set out in paragraph 2 are no longer met, the AIFM concerned applies for authorisation within 30 calendar days in accordance with the relevant procedures laid down in this Directive.

4. AIFMs referred to in paragraph 2 shall not benefit from any of the rights granted under this Directive unless they choose to opt in under this Directive. Where AIFMs opt in, this Directive shall become applicable in its entirety.

5. The Commission shall adopt implementing acts with a view to specifying the procedures for AIFMs which choose to opt in under this Directive in accordance with paragraph 4. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 59(2).

6. The Commission shall adopt, by means of delegated acts in accordance with Article 56 and subject to the conditions of Articles 57 and 58, measures specifying: (a) how the thresholds referred to in paragraph 2 are to be calculated and the treatment of AIFMs which manage AIFs whose assets under management, including any assets acquired through the use of leverage, occasionally exceed and/or fall below the relevant threshold in the same calendar year; (b) the obligation to register and to provide information in order to allow effective monitoring of systemic risk as set out in paragraph 3; and (c) the obligation to notify competent authorities as set out in paragraph 3.

Article 4

Definitions

1. For the purpose of this Directive, the following definitions shall apply: (a) ‘AIFs’ means collective investment undertakings, including investment compartments thereof, which: (i) raise capital from a number of investors, with a view to investing it in accordance with a defined investment policy for the benefit of those investors; and (ii) do not require authorisation pursuant to Article 5 of Directive 2009/65/EC; (b) ‘AIFMs’ means legal persons whose regular business is managing one or more AIFs; (c) ‘branch’ when relating to an AIFM means a place of business which is a part of an AIFM, which has no legal personality and which provides the services for which the AIFM has been authorised; all the places of business established in the same Member State by an AIFM with its registered office in another Member State or in a third country shall be regarded as a single branch; (d) ‘carried interest’ means a share in the profits of the AIF accrued to the AIFM as compensation for the management of the AIF and excluding any share in the profits of the AIF accrued to the AIFM as a return on any investment by the AIFM into the AIF; (e) ‘close links’ means a situation in which two or more natural or legal persons are linked by: (i) participation, namely ownership, directly or by way of control, of 20 % or more of the voting rights or capital of an undertaking; (ii) control, namely the relationship between a parent undertaking and a subsidiary, as referred to in Article 1 of the Seventh Council Directive 83/349/EEC of 13 June 1983 on consolidated accounts ( 1 ), or a similar relationship between a natural or legal person and an undertaking; for the purposes of this point a subsidiary undertaking of a subsidiary undertaking shall also be considered to be a subsidiary of the parent undertaking of those subsidiaries. A situation in which two or more natural or legal persons are permanently linked to the same person by a control relationship shall also be regarded as constituting a ‘close link’ between such persons; (f) ‘competent authorities’ means the national authorities of Member States which are empowered by law or regulation to supervise AIFMs; (g) ‘competent authorities’ in relation to a depositary means: (i) if the depositary is a credit institution authorised under Directive 2006/48/EC, the competent authorities as defined in point (4) of Article 4 thereof; (ii) if the depositary is an investment firm authorised under Directive 2004/39/EC, the competent authorities as defined in point (22) of Article 4(1) thereof; (iii) if the depositary falls within a category of institution referred to in point (c) of the first subparagraph of Article 21(3) of this Directive, the national authorities of its home Member State which are empowered by law or regulation to supervise such categories of institution; (iv) if the depositary is an entity referred to in the third subparagraph of Article 21(3) of this Directive, the national authorities of the Member State in which that entity has its registered office and which are empowered by law or regulation to supervise such entity or the official body competent to register or supervise such entity pursuant to the rules of professional conduct applicable thereto; (v) if the depositary is appointed as depositary for a non-EU AIF in accordance with point (b) of Article 21(5) of this Directive and does not fall within the scope of points (i) to (iv) of this point, the relevant national authorities of the third country where the depositary has its registered office; (h) ‘competent authorities of the EU AIF’ means the national authorities of a Member State which are empowered by law or regulation to supervise AIFs; (i) ‘control’ means control as defined in Article 1 of Directive 83/349/EEC; (j) ‘established’ means: (i) for AIFMs, ‘having its registered office in’; (ii) for AIFs, ‘being authorised or registered in’, or, if the AIF is not authorised or registered, ‘having its registered office in’; (iii) for depositaries, ‘having its registered office or branch in’; (iv) for legal representatives that are legal persons, ‘having its registered office or branch in’; (v) for legal representatives that are natural persons, ‘domiciled in’; (k) ‘EU AIF’ means: (i) an AIF which is authorised or registered in a Member State under the applicable national law; or (ii) an AIF which is not authorised or registered in a Member State, but has its registered office and/or head office in a Member State; (l) ‘EU AIFM’ means an AIFM which has its registered office in a Member State; (m) ‘feeder AIF’ means an AIF which: (i) invests at least 85 % of its assets in units or shares of another AIF (the ‘master AIF’); (ii) invests at least 85 % of its assets in more than one master AIFs where those master AIFs have identical investment strategies; or (iii) has otherwise an exposure of at least 85 % of its assets to such a master AIF; (n) ‘financial instrument’ means an instrument as specified in Section C of Annex I to Directive 2004/39/EC; (o) ‘holding company’ means a company with shareholdings in one or more other companies, the commercial purpose of which is to carry out a business strategy or strategies through its subsidiaries, associated companies or participations in order to contribute to their long-term value, and which is either a company: (i) operating on its own account and whose shares are admitted to trading on a regulated market in the Union; or (ii) not established for the main purpose of generating returns for its investors by means of divestment of its subsidiaries or associated companies, as evidenced in its annual report or other official documents; (p) ‘home Member State of the AIF’ means: (i) the Member State in which the AIF is authorised or registered under applicable national law, or in case of multiple authorisations or registrations, the Member State in which the AIF has been authorised or registered for the first time; or (ii) if the AIF is neither authorised nor registered in a Member State, the Member State in which the AIF has its registered office and/or head office; (q) ‘home Member State of the AIFM’ means the Member State in which the AIFM has its registered office; for non-EU AIFMs, all references to ‘home Member State of the AIFM’ in this Directive shall be read as the ‘Member State of reference’, as provided for in Chapter VII; (r) ‘host Member State of the AIFM’ means any of the following: (i) a Member State, other than the home Member State, in which an EU AIFM manages EU AIFs; (ii) a Member State, other than the home Member State, in which an EU AIFM markets units or shares of an EU AIF; (iii) a Member State, other than the home Member State, in which an EU AIFM markets units or shares of a non-EU AIF; (iv) a Member State, other than the Member State of reference, in which a non-EU AIFM manages EU AIFs; (v) a Member State, other than the Member State of reference, in which a non-EU AIFM markets units or shares of an EU AIF; or (vi) a Member State, other than the Member State of reference, in which a non-EU AIFM markets units or shares of a non-EU AIF; or ▼M2 (vii) a Member State, other than the home Member State, in which an EU AIFM provides the services referred to in Article 6(4); ▼B (s) ‘initial capital’ means funds as referred to in points (a) and (b) of the first paragraph of Article 57 of Directive 2006/48/EC; (t) ‘issuer’ means an issuer within the meaning of point (d) of Article 2(1) of Directive 2004/109/EC where that issuer has its registered office in the Union, and where its shares are admitted to trading on a regulated market within the meaning of point (14) of Article 4(1) of Directive 2004/39/EC; (u) ‘legal representative’ means a natural person domiciled in the Union or a legal person with its registered office in the Union, and which, expressly designated by a non-EU AIFM, acts on behalf of such non-EU AIFM vis-à-vis the authorities, clients, bodies and counterparties to the non-EU AIFM in the Union with regard to the non-EU AIFM’s obligations under this Directive; (v) ‘leverage’ means any method by which the AIFM increases the exposure of an AIF it manages whether through borrowing of cash or securities, or leverage embedded in derivative positions or by any other means; (w) ‘managing AIFs’ means performing at least investment management functions referred to in point 1(a) or (b) of Annex I for one or more AIFs; (x) ‘marketing’ means a direct or indirect offering or placement at the initiative of the AIFM or on behalf of the AIFM of units or shares of an AIF it manages to or with investors domiciled or with a registered office in the Union; (y) ‘master AIF’ means an AIF in which another AIF invests or has an exposure in accordance with point (m); (z) ‘Member State of reference’ means the Member State determined in accordance with Article 37(4); (aa) ‘non-EU AIF’ means an AIF which is not an EU AIF; (ab) ‘non-EU AIFM’ means an AIFM which is not an EU AIFM; (ac) ‘non-listed company’ means a company which has its registered office in the Union and the shares of which are not admitted to trading on a regulated market within the meaning of point (14) of Article 4(1) of Directive 2004/39/EC; (ad) ‘own funds’ means own funds as referred to in Articles 56 to 67 of Directive 2006/48/EC; (ae) ‘parent undertaking’ means a parent undertaking within the meaning of Articles 1 and 2 of Directive 83/349/EEC; (af) ‘prime broker’ means a credit institution, a regulated investment firm or another entity subject to prudential regulation and ongoing supervision, offering services to professional investors primarily to finance or execute transactions in financial instruments as counterparty and which may also provide other services such as clearing and settlement of trades, custodial services, securities lending, customised technology and operational support facilities; (ag) ‘professional investor’ means an investor which is considered to be a professional client or may, on request, be treated as a professional client within the meaning of Annex II to Directive 2004/39/EC; (ah) ‘qualifying holding’ means a direct or indirect holding in an AIFM which represents 10 % or more of the capital or of the voting rights, in accordance with Articles 9 and 10 of Directive 2004/109/EC, taking into account the conditions regarding aggregation of the holding laid down in Article 12(4) and (5) thereof, or which makes it possible to exercise a significant influence over the management of the AIFM in which that holding subsists; (ai) ‘employees’ representatives’ means employees’ representatives as defined in point (e) of Article 2 of Directive 2002/14/EC; (aj) ‘retail investor’ means an investor who is not a professional investor; (ak) ‘subsidiary’ means a subsidiary undertaking as defined in Articles 1 and 2 of Directive 83/349/EEC; (al) ‘supervisory authorities’ in relation to non-EU AIFs means the national authorities of a third country which are empowered by law or regulation to supervise AIFs; (am) ‘supervisory authorities’ in relation to non-EU AIFMs means the national authorities of a third country which are empowered by law or regulation to supervise AIFMs; (an) ‘securitisation special purpose entities’ means entities whose sole purpose is to carry on a securitisation or securitisations within the meaning of Article 1(2) of Regulation (EC) No 24/2009 of the European Central Bank of 19 December 2008 concerning statistics on the assets and liabilities of financial vehicle corporations engaged in securitisation transactions ( 2 ) and other activities which are appropriate to accomplish that purpose; (ao) ‘UCITS’ means an undertaking for collective investment in transferable securities authorised in accordance with Article 5 of Directive 2009/65/EC.

2. mutatis mutandis . For the purposes of point (ad) of paragraph 1 of this Article, Articles 13 to 16 of Directive 2006/49/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2006 on the capital adequacy of investment firms and credit institutions ( 3 ) shall apply

3. The Commission shall adopt, by means of delegated acts in accordance with Article 56 and subject to the conditions of Articles 57 and 58, measures specifying: (a) the methods of leverage, as defined in point (v) of paragraph 1, including any financial and/or legal structures involving third parties controlled by the relevant AIF; and (b) how leverage is to be calculated.

4. The European Supervisory Authority (European Securities and Markets Authority) (ESMA) shall develop draft regulatory technical standards to determine types of AIFMs, where relevant in the application of this Directive, and to ensure uniform conditions of application of this Directive.

Power is delegated to the Commission to adopt the regulatory technical standards referred to in the first subparagraph in accordance with Articles 10 to 14 of Regulation (EU) No 1095/2010.

Article 5

Determination of the AIFM

1. Member States shall ensure that each AIF managed within the scope of this Directive shall have a single AIFM, which shall be responsible for ensuring compliance with this Directive. The AIFM shall be either: (a) an external manager, which is the legal person appointed by the AIF or on behalf of the AIF and which through this appointment is responsible for managing the AIF (external AIFM); or (b) where the legal form of the AIF permits an internal management and where the AIF’s governing body chooses not to appoint an external AIFM, the AIF itself, which shall then be authorised as AIFM.

2. In cases where an external AIFM is unable to ensure compliance with requirements of this Directive for which an AIF or another entity on its behalf is responsible, it shall immediately inform the competent authorities of its home Member State and, if applicable, the competent authorities of the EU AIF concerned. The competent authorities of the home Member State of the AIFM shall require the AIFM to take the necessary steps to remedy the situation.

3. If, notwithstanding the steps referred to in paragraph 2 being taken, the non-compliance persists, and in so far as it concerns an EU AIFM or an EU AIF, the competent authorities of the home Member State of the AIFM shall require that it resign as AIFM of that AIF. In that case the AIF shall no longer be marketed in the Union. If it concerns a non-EU AIFM managing a non-EU AIF, the AIF shall no longer be marketed in the Union. The competent authorities of the home Member State of the AIFM shall immediately inform the competent authorities of the host Member States of the AIFM.







CHAPTER II

AUTHORISATION OF AIFMs

Article 6

Conditions for taking up activities as AIFM

1. Member States shall ensure that no AIFMs manage AIFs unless they are authorised in accordance with this Directive.

AIFMs authorised in accordance with this Directive shall meet the conditions for authorisation established in this Directive at all times.

2. Member States shall require that no external AIFM engage in activities other than those referred to in Annex I to this Directive and the additional management of UCITS subject to authorisation under Directive 2009/65/EC.

3. Member States shall require that no internally managed AIF shall engage in activities other than the internal management of that AIF in accordance with Annex I.

4. By way of derogation from paragraph 2, Member States may authorise an external AIFM to provide the following services: (a) management of portfolios of investments, including those owned by pension funds and institutions for occupational retirement provision in accordance with Article 19(1) of Directive 2003/41/EC, in accordance with mandates given by investors on a discretionary, client-by-client basis; (b) non-core services comprising: (i) investment advice; (ii) safe-keeping and administration in relation to shares or units of collective investment undertakings; (iii) reception and transmission of orders in relation to financial instruments.

5. AIFMs shall not be authorised under this Directive to provide: (a) only the services referred to in paragraph 4; (b) non-core services referred to in point (b) of paragraph 4 without also being authorised to provide the services referred to in point (a) of paragraph 4; (c) only the activities referred to in point 2 of Annex I; or (d) the services referred to in point 1(a) of Annex I without also providing the services referred to in point 1(b) of Annex I or vice versa.

6. Article 2(2) and Articles 12, 13 and 19 of Directive 2004/39/EC shall apply to the provision of the services referred to in paragraph 4 of this Article by AIFMs.

7. Member States shall require that the AIFMs provide the competent authorities of their home Member State with the information they require to monitor compliance with the conditions referred to in this Directive at all times.

8. Investment firms authorised under Directive 2004/39/EC and credit institutions authorised under Directive 2006/48/EC shall not be required to obtain an authorisation under this Directive in order to provide investment services such as individual portfolio management in respect of AIFs. However, investment firms shall, directly or indirectly, offer units or shares of AIFs to, or place such units or shares with, investors in the Union, only to the extent the units or shares can be marketed in accordance with this Directive.

Article 7

Application for authorisation

1. Member States shall require that AIFMs apply for authorisation from the competent authorities of their home Member State.

2. Member States shall require that an AIFM applying for an authorisation shall provide the following information relating to the AIFM to the competent authorities of its home Member State: (a) information on the persons effectively conducting the business of the AIFM; (b) information on the identities of the AIFM’s shareholders or members, whether direct or indirect, natural or legal persons, that have qualifying holdings and on the amounts of those holdings; (c) a programme of activity setting out the organisational structure of the AIFM, including information on how the AIFM intends to comply with its obligations under Chapters II, III, IV, and, where applicable, Chapters V, VI, VII and VIII; (d) information on the remuneration policies and practices pursuant to Article 13; (e) information on arrangements made for the delegation and sub-delegation to third parties of functions as referred to in Article 20.

3. Member States shall require that an AIFM applying for authorisation further provide the following information on the AIFs it intends to manage to the competent authorities of its home Member State: (a) information about the investment strategies including the types of underlying funds if the AIF is a fund of funds, and the AIFM’s policy as regards the use of leverage, and the risk profiles and other characteristics of the AIFs it manages or intends to manage, including information about the Member States or third countries in which such AIFs are established or are expected to be established; (b) information on where the master AIF is established if the AIF is a feeder AIF; (c) the rules or instruments of incorporation of each AIF the AIFM intends to manage; (d) information on the arrangements made for the appointment of the depositary in accordance with Article 21 for each AIF the AIFM intends to manage; (e) any additional information referred to in Article 23(1) for each AIF the AIFM manages or intends to manage.

4. Where a management company is authorised pursuant to Directive 2009/65/EC (UCITS management company) and applies for authorisation as an AIFM under this Directive, the competent authorities shall not require the UCITS management company to provide information or documents which the UCITS management company has already provided when applying for authorisation under Directive 2009/65/EC, provided that such information or documents remain up-to-date.

5. The competent authorities shall, on a quarterly basis, inform ESMA of authorisations granted or withdrawn in accordance with this Chapter.

ESMA shall keep a central public register identifying each AIFM authorised under this Directive, a list of the AIFs managed and/or marketed in the Union by such AIFMs and the competent authority for each such AIFM. The register shall be made available in electronic format.

6. In order to ensure consistent harmonisation of this Article, ESMA may develop draft regulatory technical standards to specify the information to be provided to the competent authorities in the application for the authorisation of the AIFM, including the programme of activity.

Power is delegated to the Commission to adopt the regulatory technical standards referred to in the first subparagraph in accordance with Articles 10 to 14 of Regulation (EU) No 1095/2010.

7. In order to ensure uniform conditions of application of this Article, ESMA may develop draft implementing technical standards to determine standard forms, templates and procedures for the provision of information provided for in the first subparagraph of paragraph 6.

Power is conferred on the Commission to adopt the implementing technical standards referred to in the first subparagraph in accordance with Article 15 of Regulation (EU) No 1095/2010.

Article 8

Conditions for granting authorisation

1. The competent authorities of the home Member State of the AIFM shall not grant authorisation unless: (a) they are satisfied that the AIFM will be able to meet the conditions of this Directive; (b) the AIFM has sufficient initial capital and own funds in accordance with Article 9; (c) the persons who effectively conduct the business of the AIFM are of sufficiently good repute and are sufficiently experienced also in relation to the investment strategies pursued by the AIFs managed by the AIFM, the names of those persons and of every person succeeding them in office being communicated forthwith to the competent authorities of the home Member State of the AIFM and the conduct of the business of the AIFM being decided by at least two persons meeting such conditions; (d) the shareholders or members of the AIFM that have qualifying holdings are suitable taking into account the need to ensure the sound and prudent management of the AIFM; and (e) the head office and the registered office of the AIFM are located in the same Member State.

Authorisation shall be valid for all Member States.

2. The relevant competent authorities of the other Member States involved shall be consulted before authorisation is granted to the following AIFMs: (a) a subsidiary of another AIFM, of a UCITS management company, of an investment firm, of a credit institution or of an insurance undertaking authorised in another Member State; (b) a subsidiary of the parent undertaking of another AIFM, of a UCITS management company, of an investment firm, of a credit institution or of an insurance undertaking authorised in another Member State; and (c) a company controlled by the same natural or legal persons as those that control another AIFM, a UCITS management company, an investment firm, a credit institution or an insurance undertaking authorised in another Member State.

3. The competent authorities of the home Member State of the AIFM shall refuse authorisation where the effective exercise of their supervisory functions is prevented by any of the following: (a) close links between the AIFM and other natural or legal persons; (b) the laws, regulations or administrative provisions of a third country governing natural or legal persons with which the AIFM has close links; (c) difficulties involved in the enforcement of those laws, regulations and administrative provisions.

4. The competent authorities of the home Member State of the AIFM may restrict the scope of the authorisation, in particular as regards the investment strategies of AIFs the AIFM is allowed to manage.

5. The competent authorities of the home Member State of the AIFM shall inform the applicant in writing within 3 months of the submission of a complete application, whether or not authorisation has been granted. The competent authorities may prolong this period for up to three additional months, where they consider it necessary due to the specific circumstances of the case and after having notified the AIFM accordingly.

For the purpose of this paragraph an application is deemed complete if the AIFM has at least submitted the information referred to in points (a) to (d) of Article 7(2) and points (a) and (b) of Article 7(3).

AIFMs may start managing AIFs with investment strategies described in the application in accordance with point (a) of Article 7(3) in their home Member State as soon as the authorisation is granted, but not earlier than 1 month after having submitted any missing information referred to in point (e) of Article 7(2) and points (c), (d) and (e) of Article 7(3).

6. In order to ensure consistent harmonisation of this Article, ESMA may develop draft regulatory technical standards to specify the: (a) requirements applicable to the AIFMs under paragraph 3; (b) requirements applicable to shareholders and members with qualifying holdings referred to in point (d) of paragraph 1; (c) obstacles which may prevent effective exercise of the supervisory functions of the competent authorities.

Power is delegated to the Commission to adopt the regulatory technical standards referred to in the first subparagraph in accordance with Articles 10 to 14 of Regulation (EU) No 1095/2010.

Article 9

Initial capital and own funds

1. Member States shall require that an AIFM which is an internally managed AIF has an initial capital of at least EUR 300 000 .

2. Where an AIFM is appointed as external manager of AIFs, the AIFM shall have an initial capital of at least EUR 125 000 .

3. Where the value of the portfolios of AIFs managed by the AIFM exceeds EUR 250 million, the AIFM shall provide an additional amount of own funds. That additional amount of own funds shall be equal to 0,02 % of the amount by which the value of the portfolios of the AIFM exceeds EUR 250 million but the required total of the initial capital and the additional amount shall not, however, exceed EUR 10 million.

4. For the purpose of paragraph 3, AIFs managed by the AIFM, including AIFs for which the AIFM has delegated functions in accordance with Article 20 but excluding AIF portfolios that the AIFM is managing under delegation, shall be deemed to be the portfolios of the AIFM.

▼M5

5. Irrespective of paragraph 3, the own funds of the AIFM shall never be less than the amount required under Article 13 of Regulation (EU) 2019/2033 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 4 ).

▼B

6. Member States may authorise AIFMs not to provide up to 50 % of the additional amount of own funds referred to in paragraph 3 if they benefit from a guarantee of the same amount given by a credit institution or an insurance undertaking which has its registered office in a Member State, or in a third country where it is subject to prudential rules considered by the competent authorities as equivalent to those laid down in Union law.

7. To cover potential professional liability risks resulting from activities AIFMs may carry out pursuant to this Directive, both internally managed AIFs and external AIFMs shall either: (a) have additional own funds which are appropriate to cover potential liability risks arising from professional negligence; or (b) hold a professional indemnity insurance against liability arising from professional negligence which is appropriate to the risks covered.

8. Own funds, including any additional own funds as referred to in point (a) of paragraph 7, shall be invested in liquid assets or assets readily convertible to cash in the short term and shall not include speculative positions.

9. The Commission shall adopt, by means of delegated acts in accordance with Article 56 and subject to the conditions of Articles 57 and 58, measures in relation to paragraph 7 of this Article specifying: (a) the risks the additional own funds or the professional indemnity insurance must cover; (b) the conditions for determining the appropriateness of additional own funds or the coverage of the professional indemnity insurance; and (c) the manner of determining ongoing adjustments of the additional own funds or of the coverage of the professional indemnity insurance.

10. With the exception of paragraphs 7 and 8 and of the delegated acts adopted pursuant to paragraph 9, this Article shall not apply to AIFMs which are also UCITS management companies.

Article 10

Changes in the scope of the authorisation

1. Member States shall require that AIFMs, before implementation, notify the competent authorities of their home Member State of any material changes to the conditions for initial authorisation, in particular material changes to the information provided in accordance with Article 7.

2. If the competent authorities of the home Member State decide to impose restrictions or reject those changes, they shall, within 1 month of receipt of that notification, inform the AIFM. The competent authorities may prolong that period for up to 1 month where they consider this to be necessary because of the specific circumstances of the case and after having notified the AIFM accordingly. The changes shall be implemented if the relevant competent authorities do not oppose the changes within the relevant assessment period.

Article 11

Withdrawal of the authorisation

The competent authorities of the home Member State of the AIFM may withdraw the authorisation issued to an AIFM where that AIFM:

(a) does not make use of the authorisation within 12 months, expressly renounces the authorisation or has ceased the activity covered by this Directive for the preceding 6 months, unless the Member State concerned has provided for authorisation to lapse in such cases;

(b) obtained the authorisation by making false statements or by any other irregular means;

(c) no longer meets the conditions under which authorisation was granted;

(d) no longer complies with Directive 2006/49/EC if its authorisation also covers the discretionary portfolio management service referred to in point (a) of Article 6(4) of this Directive;

(e) has seriously or systematically infringed the provisions adopted pursuant to this Directive; or

(f) falls within any of the cases where national law, in respect of matters outside the scope of this Directive, provides for withdrawal.







CHAPTER III

OPERATING CONDITIONS FOR AIFMs







SECTION 1

General requirements

Article 12

General principles

1. Member States shall ensure that, at all times, AIFMs: (a) act honestly, with due skill, care and diligence and fairly in conducting their activities; (b) act in the best interests of the AIFs or the investors of the AIFs they manage and the integrity of the market; (c) have and employ effectively the resources and procedures that are necessary for the proper performance of their business activities; (d) take all reasonable steps to avoid conflicts of interest and, when they cannot be avoided, to identify, manage and monitor and, where applicable, disclose, those conflicts of interest in order to prevent them from adversely affecting the interests of the AIFs and their investors and to ensure that the AIFs they manage are fairly treated; (e) comply with all regulatory requirements applicable to the conduct of their business activities so as to promote the best interests of the AIFs or the investors of the AIFs they manage and the integrity of the market; (f) treat all AIF investors fairly.

No investor in an AIF shall obtain preferential treatment, unless such preferential treatment is disclosed in the relevant AIF’s rules or instruments of incorporation.

2. Each AIFM the authorisation of which also covers the discretionary portfolio management service referred to in point (a) of Article 6(4) shall: (a) not be permitted to invest all or part of the client’s portfolio in units or shares of the AIFs it manages, unless it receives prior general approval from the client; (b) with regard to the services referred to in Article 6(4), be subject to Directive 97/9/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 3 March 1997 on investor-compensation schemes ( 5 ).

3. The Commission shall adopt, by means of delegated acts in accordance with Article 56 and subject to the conditions of Articles 57 and 58, measures specifying the criteria to be used by the relevant competent authorities to assess whether AIFMs comply with their obligations under paragraph 1.

Article 13

Remuneration

1. Member States shall require AIFMs to have remuneration policies and practices for those categories of staff, including senior management, risk takers, control functions, and any employees receiving total remuneration that takes them into the same remuneration bracket as senior management and risk takers, whose professional activities have a material impact on the risk profiles of the AIFMs or of the AIFs they manage, that are consistent with and promote sound and effective risk management and do not encourage risk-taking which is inconsistent with the risk profiles, rules or instruments of incorporation of the AIFs they manage.

The AIFMs shall determine the remuneration policies and practices in accordance with Annex II.

2. ESMA shall ensure the existence of guidelines on sound remuneration policies which comply with Annex II. The guidelines shall take into account the principles on sound remuneration policies set out in Recommendation 2009/384/EC, the size of the AIFMs and the size of AIFs they manage, their internal organisation and the nature, the scope and the complexity of their activities. ESMA shall cooperate closely with the European Supervisory Authority (European Banking Authority) (EBA).

Article 14

Conflicts of interest

1. Member States shall require AIFMs to take all reasonable steps to identify conflicts of interest that arise in the course of managing AIFs between: (a) the AIFM, including its managers, employees or any person directly or indirectly linked to the AIFM by control, and the AIF managed by the AIFM or the investors in that AIF; (b) the AIF or the investors in that AIF, and another AIF or the investors in that AIF; (c) the AIF or the investors in that AIF, and another client of the AIFM; (d) the AIF or the investors in that AIF, and a UCITS managed by the AIFM or the investors in that UCITS; or (e) two clients of the AIFM.

AIFMs shall maintain and operate effective organisational and administrative arrangements with a view to taking all reasonable steps designed to identify, prevent, manage and monitor conflicts of interest in order to prevent them from adversely affecting the interests of the AIFs and their investors.

AIFMs shall segregate, within their own operating environment, tasks and responsibilities which may be regarded as incompatible with each other or which may potentially generate systematic conflicts of interest. AIFMs shall assess whether their operating conditions may involve any other material conflicts of interest and disclose them to the investors of the AIFs.

2. Where organisational arrangements made by the AIFM to identify, prevent, manage and monitor conflicts of interest are not sufficient to ensure, with reasonable confidence, that risks of damage to investors’ interests will be prevented, the AIFM shall clearly disclose the general nature or sources of conflicts of interest to the investors before undertaking business on their behalf, and develop appropriate policies and procedures.

3. Where the AIFM on behalf of an AIF uses the services of a prime broker, the terms shall be set out in a written contract. In particular any possibility of transfer and reuse of AIF assets shall be provided for in that contract and shall comply with the AIF rules or instruments of incorporation. The contract shall provide that the depositary be informed of the contract.

AIFMs shall exercise due skill, care and diligence in the selection and appointment of prime brokers with whom a contract is to be concluded.

4. The Commission shall adopt, by means of delegated acts in accordance with Article 56 and subject to the conditions of Articles 57 and 58, measures specifying: (a) the types of conflicts of interest as referred to in paragraph 1; (b) the reasonable steps AIFMs are expected to take in terms of structures and organisational and administrative procedures in order to identify, prevent, manage, monitor and disclose conflicts of interest.

Article 15

Risk management

1. AIFMs shall functionally and hierarchically separate the functions of risk management from the operating units, including from the functions of portfolio management.

The functional and hierarchical separation of the functions of risk management in accordance with the first subparagraph shall be reviewed by the competent authorities of the home Member State of the AIFM in accordance with the principle of proportionality, on the understanding that the AIFM shall, in any event, be able to demonstrate that specific safeguards against conflicts of interest allow for the independent performance of risk management activities and that the risk management process satisfies the requirements of this Article and is consistently effective.

▼M1

2. AIFMs shall implement adequate risk-management systems in order to identify, measure, manage and monitor appropriately all risks relevant to each AIF investment strategy and to which each AIF is or may be exposed. In particular, AIFMs shall not solely or mechanistically rely on credit ratings issued by credit rating agencies as defined in Article 3(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 1060/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 September 2009 on credit rating agencies ( 6 ), for assessing the creditworthiness of the AIFs’ assets.

▼B

AIFMs shall review the risk management systems with appropriate frequency at least once a year and adapt them whenever necessary.

3. AIFMs shall at least: (a) implement an appropriate, documented and regularly updated due diligence process when investing on behalf of the AIF, according to the investment strategy, the objectives and risk profile of the AIF; (b) ensure that the risks associated with each investment position of the AIF and their overall effect on the AIF’s portfolio can be properly identified, measured, managed and monitored on an ongoing basis, including through the use of appropriate stress testing procedures; (c) ensure that the risk profile of the AIF shall correspond to the size, portfolio structure and investment strategies and objectives of the AIF as laid down in the AIF rules or instruments of incorporation, prospectus and offering documents.

▼M1

3a. Taking into account the nature, scale and complexity of the AIFs’ activities, the competent authorities shall monitor the adequacy of the credit assessment processes of AIFMs, assess the use of references to credit ratings, as referred to in the first subparagraph of paragraph 2, in the AIFs’ investment policies and, where appropriate, encourage mitigation of the impact of such references, with a view to reducing sole and mechanistic reliance on such credit ratings.

▼B

4. AIFMs shall set a maximum level of leverage which they may employ on behalf of each AIF they manage as well as the extent of the right to reuse collateral or guarantee that could be granted under the leveraging arrangement, taking into account, inter alia: (a) the type of the AIF; (b) the investment strategy of the AIF; (c) the sources of leverage of the AIF; (d) any other interlinkage or relevant relationships with other financial services institutions, which could pose systemic risk; (e) the need to limit the exposure to any single counterparty; (f) the extent to which the leverage is collateralised; (g) the asset-liability ratio; (h) the scale, nature and extent of the activity of the AIFM on the markets concerned.

5. The Commission shall adopt, by means of delegated acts in accordance with Article 56 and subject to the conditions of Articles 57 and 58, measures specifying: (a) the risk management systems to be employed by AIFMs in relation to the risks which they incur on behalf of the AIFs that they manage; (b) the appropriate frequency of review of the risk management system; (c) how the risk management function is to be functionally and hierarchically separated from the operating units, including the portfolio management function; (d) specific safeguards against conflicts of interest referred to in the second subparagraph of paragraph 1; (e) the requirements referred to in paragraph 3.

▼M1

The measures specifying the risk-management systems referred to in point (a) of the first subparagraph shall ensure that the AIFMs are prevented from relying solely or mechanistically on credit ratings, as referred to in the first subparagraph of paragraph 2, for assessing the creditworthiness of the AIFs’ assets.

▼B

Article 16

Liquidity management

1. AIFMs shall, for each AIF that they manage which is not an unleveraged closed-ended AIF, employ an appropriate liquidity management system and adopt procedures which enable them to monitor the liquidity risk of the AIF and to ensure that the liquidity profile of the investments of the AIF complies with its underlying obligations.

AIFMs shall regularly conduct stress tests, under normal and exceptional liquidity conditions, which enable them to assess the liquidity risk of the AIFs and monitor the liquidity risk of the AIFs accordingly.

2. AIFMs shall ensure that, for each AIF that they manage, the investment strategy, the liquidity profile and the redemption policy are consistent.

3. The Commission shall adopt, by means of delegated acts in accordance with Article 56 and subject to the conditions of Articles 57 and 58, measures specifying: (a) the liquidity management systems and procedures; and (b) the alignment of the investment strategy, liquidity profile and redemption policy set out in paragraph 2.

▼M4

Article 17

Where AIFMs are exposed to a securitisation that no longer meets the requirements provided for in Regulation (EU) 2017/2402 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 7 ), they shall, in the best interest of the investors in the relevant AIFs, act and take corrective action, if appropriate.

▼B







SECTION 2

Organisational requirements

Article 18

General principles

1. Member States shall require that AIFMs use, at all times, adequate and appropriate human and technical resources that are necessary for the proper management of AIFs.

In particular, the competent authorities of the home Member State of the AIFM, having regard also to the nature of the AIFs managed by the AIFM, shall require that the AIFM has sound administrative and accounting procedures, control and safeguard arrangements for electronic data processing and adequate internal control mechanisms including, in particular, rules for personal transactions by its employees or for the holding or management of investments in order to invest on its own account and ensuring, at least, that each transaction involving the AIFs may be reconstructed according to its origin, the parties to it, its nature, and the time and place at which it was effected and that the assets of the AIFs managed by the AIFM are invested in accordance with the AIF rules or instruments of incorporation and the legal provisions in force.

2. The Commission shall adopt, by means of delegated acts in accordance with Article 56 and subject to the conditions of Articles 57 and 58, measures specifying the procedures and arrangements as referred to in paragraph 1.

Article 19

Valuation

1. AIFMs shall ensure that, for each AIF that they manage, appropriate and consistent procedures are established so that a proper and independent valuation of the assets of the AIF can be performed in accordance with this Article, the applicable national law and the AIF rules or instruments of incorporation.

2. The rules applicable to the valuation of assets and the calculation of the net asset value per unit or share of the AIF shall be laid down in the law of the country where the AIF is established and/or in the AIF rules or instruments of incorporation.

3. AIFMs shall also ensure that the net asset value per unit or share of AIFs is calculated and disclosed to the investors in accordance with this Article, the applicable national law and the AIF rules or instruments of incorporation.

The valuation procedures used shall ensure that the assets are valued and the net asset value per unit or share is calculated at least once a year.

If the AIF is of the open-ended type, such valuations and calculations shall also be carried out at a frequency which is both appropriate to the assets held by the AIF and its issuance and redemption frequency.

If the AIF is of the closed-ended type, such valuations and calculations shall also be carried out in case of an increase or decrease of the capital by the relevant AIF.

The investors shall be informed of the valuations and calculations as set out in the relevant AIF rules or instruments of incorporation.

4. AIFMs shall ensure that the valuation function is either performed by: (a) an external valuer, being a legal or natural person independent from the AIF, the AIFM and any other persons with close links to the AIF or the AIFM; or (b) the AIFM itself, provided that the valuation task is functionally independent from the portfolio management and the remuneration policy and other measures ensure that conflicts of interest are mitigated and that undue influence upon the employees is prevented.

The depositary appointed for an AIF shall not be appointed as external valuer of that AIF, unless it has functionally and hierarchically separated the performance of its depositary functions from its tasks as external valuer and the potential conflicts of interest are properly identified, managed, monitored and disclosed to the investors of the AIF.

5. Where an external valuer performs the valuation function, the AIFM shall demonstrate that: (a) the external valuer is subject to mandatory professional registration recognised by law or to legal or regulatory provisions or rules of professional conduct; (b) the external valuer can provide sufficient professional guarantees to be able to perform effectively the relevant valuation function in accordance with paragraphs 1, 2 and 3; and (c) the appointment of the external valuer complies with the requirements of Article 20(1) and (2) and the delegated acts adopted pursuant to Article 20(7).

6. The appointed external valuer shall not delegate the valuation function to a third party.

7. AIFMs shall notify the appointment of the external valuer to the competent authorities of their home Member State which may require that another external valuer be appointed instead, where the conditions laid down in paragraph 5 are not met.

8. The valuation shall be performed impartially and with all due skill, care and diligence.

9. Where the valuation function is not performed by an independent external valuer, the competent authorities of the home Member State of the AIFM may require the AIFM to have its valuation procedures and/or valuations verified by an external valuer or, where appropriate, by an auditor.

10. AIFMs are responsible for the proper valuation of AIF assets, the calculation of the net asset value and the publication of that net asset value. The AIFM’s liability towards the AIF and its investors shall, therefore, not be affected by the fact that the AIFM has appointed an external valuer.

Notwithstanding the first subparagraph and irrespective of any contractual arrangements providing otherwise, the external valuer shall be liable to the AIFM for any losses suffered by the AIFM as a result of the external valuer’s negligence or intentional failure to perform its tasks.

11. The Commission shall adopt, by means of delegated acts in accordance with Article 56 and subject to the conditions of Articles 57 and 58, measures specifying: (a) the criteria concerning the procedures for the proper valuation of the assets and the calculation of the net asset value per unit or share; (b) the professional guarantees the external valuer must be able to provide to effectively perform the valuation function; (c) the frequency of valuation carried out by open-ended AIFs which is both appropriate to the assets held by the AIF and its issuance and redemption policy.







SECTION 3

Delegation of AIFM functions

Article 20

Delegation

1. AIFMs which intend to delegate to third parties the task of carrying out functions on their behalf shall notify the competent authorities of their home Member State before the delegation arrangements become effective. The following conditions shall be met: (a) the AIFM must be able to justify its entire delegation structure on objective reasons; (b) the delegate must dispose of sufficient resources to perform the respective tasks and the persons who effectively conduct the business of the delegate must be of sufficiently good repute and sufficiently experienced; (c) where the delegation concerns portfolio management or risk management, it must be conferred only on undertakings which are authorised or registered for the purpose of asset management and subject to supervision or, where that condition cannot be met, only subject to prior approval by the competent authorities of the home Member State of the AIFM; (d) where the delegation concerns portfolio management or risk management and is conferred on a third-country undertaking, in addition to the requirements in point (c), cooperation between the competent authorities of the home Member State of the AIFM and the supervisory authority of the undertaking must be ensured; (e) the delegation must not prevent the effectiveness of supervision of the AIFM, and, in particular, must not prevent the AIFM from acting, or the AIF from being managed, in the best interests of its investors; (f) the AIFM must be able to demonstrate that the delegate is qualified and capable of undertaking the functions in question, that it was selected with all due care and that the AIFM is in a position to monitor effectively at any time the delegated activity, to give at any time further instructions to the delegate and to withdraw the delegation with immediate effect when this is in the interest of investors.

The AIFM shall review the services provided by each delegate on an ongoing basis.

2. No delegation of portfolio management or risk management shall be conferred on: (a) the depositary or a delegate of the depositary; or (b) any other entity whose interests may conflict with those of the AIFM or the investors of the AIF, unless such entity has functionally and hierarchically separated the performance of its portfolio management or risk management tasks from its other potentially conflicting tasks, and the potential conflicts of interest are properly identified, managed, monitored and disclosed to the investors of the AIF.

3. The AIFM’s liability towards the AIF and its investors shall not be affected by the fact that the AIFM has delegated functions to a third party, or by any further sub-delegation, nor shall the AIFM delegate its functions to the extent that, in essence, it can no longer be considered to be the manager of the AIF and to the extent that it becomes a letter-box entity.

4. The third party may sub-delegate any of the functions delegated to it provided that the following conditions are met: (a) the AIFM consented prior to the sub-delegation; (b) the AIFM notified the competent authorities of its home Member State before the sub-delegation arrangements become effective; (c) the conditions set out in paragraph 1, on the understanding that all references to the ‘delegate’ are read as references to the ‘sub-delegate’.

5. No sub-delegation of portfolio management or risk management shall be conferred on: (a) the depositary or a delegate of the depositary; or (b) any other entity whose interests may conflict with those of the AIFM or the investors of the AIF, unless such entity has functionally and hierarchically separated the performance of its portfolio management or risk management tasks from its other potentially conflicting tasks, and the potential conflicts of interest are properly identified, managed, monitored and disclosed to the investors of the AIF.

The relevant delegate shall review the services provided by each sub-delegate on an ongoing basis.

6. Where the sub-delegate further delegates any of the functions delegated to it, the conditions set out in paragraph 4 shall apply mutatis mutandis .

7. The Commission shall adopt, by means of delegated acts in accordance with Article 56 and subject to the conditions of Articles 57 and 58, measures specifying: (a) the conditions for fulfilling the requirements set out in paragraphs 1, 2, 4 and 5; (b) the conditions under which the AIFM shall be deemed to have delegated its functions to the extent that it becomes a letter-box entity and can no longer be considered to be the manager of the AIF as set out in paragraph 3.







SECTION 4

Depositary

Article 21

Depositary

1. For each AIF it manages, the AIFM shall ensure that a single depositary is appointed in accordance with this Article.

2. The appointment of the depositary shall be evidenced by written contract. The contract shall, inter alia, regulate the flow of information deemed necessary to allow the depositary to perform its functions for the AIF for which it has been appointed as depositary, as set out in this Directive and in other relevant laws, regulations or administrative provisions.

3. The depositary shall be: (a) a credit institution having its registered office in the Union and authorised in accordance with Directive 2006/48/EC; (b) an investment firm having its registered office in the Union, subject to capital adequacy requirements in accordance with Article 20(1) of Directive 2006/49/EC including capital requirements for operational risks and authorised in accordance with Directive 2004/39/EC and which also provides the ancillary service of safe-keeping and administration of financial instruments for the account of clients in accordance with point (1) of Section B of Annex I to Directive 2004/39/EC; such investment firms shall in any case have own funds not less than the amount of initial capital referred to in Article 9 of Directive 2006/49/EC; or (c) another category of institution that is subject to prudential regulation and ongoing supervision and which, on 21 July 2011, falls within the categories of institution determined by Member States to be eligible to be a depositary under Article 23(3) of Directive 2009/65/EC.

For non-EU AIFs only, and without prejudice to point (b) of paragraph 5, the depositary may also be a credit institution or any other entity of the same nature as the entities referred to in points (a) and (b) of the first subparagraph of this paragraph provided that the conditions in point (b) of paragraph 6 are met.

In addition, Member States may allow that in relation to AIFs which have no redemption rights exercisable during the period of 5 years from the date of the initial investments and which, in accordance with their core investment policy, generally do not invest in assets that must be held in custody in accordance with point (a) of paragraph 8 or generally invest in issuers or non-listed companies in order to potentially acquire control over such companies in accordance with Article 26, the depositary may be an entity which carries out depositary functions as part of its professional or business activities in respect of which such entity is subject to mandatory professional registration recognised by law or to legal or regulatory provisions or rules of professional conduct and which can provide sufficient financial and professional guarantees to enable it to perform effectively the relevant depositary functions and meet the commitments inherent in those functions.

4. In order to avoid conflicts of interest between the depositary, the AIFM and/or the AIF and/or its investors: (a) an AIFM shall not act as depositary; (b) a prime broker acting as counterparty to an AIF shall not act as depositary for that AIF, unless it has functionally and hierarchically separated the performance of its depositary functions from its tasks as prime broker and the potential conflicts of interest are properly identified, managed, monitored and disclosed to the investors of the AIF. Delegation by the depositary to such prime broker of its custody tasks in accordance with paragraph 11 is allowed if the relevant conditions are met.

5. The depositary shall be established in one of the following locations: (a) for EU AIFs, in the home Member State of the AIF; (b) for non-EU AIFs, in the third country where the AIF is established or in the home Member State of the AIFM managing the AIF or in the Member State of reference of the AIFM managing the AIF.

6. Without prejudice to the requirements set out in paragraph 3, the appointment of a depositary established in a third country shall, at all times, be subject to the following conditions: (a) the competent authorities of the Member States in which the units or shares of the non-EU AIF are intended to be marketed, and, in so far as different, of the home Member State of the AIFM, have signed cooperation and exchange of information arrangements with the competent authorities of the depositary; (b) the depositary is subject to effective prudential regulation, including minimum capital requirements, and supervision which have the same effect as Union law and are effectively enforced; (c) the third country where the depositary is established is not listed as a Non-Cooperative Country and Territory by FATF; (d) the Member States in which the units or shares of the non-EU AIF are intended to be marketed, and, in so far as different, the home Member State of the AIFM, have signed an agreement with the third country where the depositary is established which fully complies with the standards laid down in Article 26 of the OECD Model Tax Convention on Income and on Capital and ensures an effective exchange of information in tax matters including any multilateral tax agreements; (e) the depositary shall by contract be liable to the AIF or to the investors of the AIF, consistently with paragraphs 12 and 13, and shall expressly agree to comply with paragraph 11.

Where a competent authority of another Member State disagrees with the assessment made on the application of points (a), (c) or (e) of the first subparagraph by the competent authorities of the home Member State of the AIFM, the competent authorities concerned may refer the matter to the ESMA which may act in accordance with the powers conferred on it under Article 19 of Regulation (EU) No 1095/2010.

On the basis of the criteria referred to in point (b) of paragraph 17, the Commission shall adopt implementing acts, stating that prudential regulation and supervision of a third country have the same effect as Union law and are effectively enforced. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 59(2).

7. The depositary shall in general ensure that the AIF’s cash flows are properly monitored, and shall in particular ensure that all payments made by or on behalf of investors upon the subscription of units or shares of an AIF have been received and that all cash of the AIF has been booked in cash accounts opened in the name of the AIF or in the name of the AIFM acting on behalf of the AIF or in the name of the depositary acting on behalf of the AIF at an entity referred to in points (a), (b) and (c) of Article 18(1) of Directive 2006/73/EC, or another entity of the same nature, in the relevant market where cash accounts are required provided that such entity is subject to effective prudential regulation and supervision which have the same effect as Union law and are effectively enforced and in accordance with the principles set out in Article 16 of Directive 2006/73/EC.

Where the cash accounts are opened in the name of the depositary acting on behalf of the AIF, no cash of the entity referred to in the first subparagraph and none of the depositary’s own cash shall be booked on such accounts.

8. The assets of the AIF or the AIFM acting on behalf of the AIF shall be entrusted to the depositary for safe-keeping, as follows: (a) for financial instruments that can be held in custody: (i) the depositary shall hold in custody all financial instruments that can be registered in a financial instruments account opened in the depositary’s books and all financial instruments that can be physically delivered to the depositary; (ii) for that purpose, the depositary shall ensure that all those financial instruments that can be registered in a financial instruments account opened in the depositary’s books are registered in the depositary’s books within segregated accounts in accordance with the principles set out in Article 16 of Directive 2006/73/EC, opened in the name of the AIF or the AIFM acting on behalf of the AIF, so that they can be clearly identified as belonging to the AIF in accordance with the applicable law at all times; (b) for other assets: (i) the depositary shall verify the ownership of the AIF or the AIFM acting on behalf of the AIF of such assets and shall maintain a record of those assets for which it is satisfied that the AIF or the AIFM acting on behalf of the AIF holds the ownership of such assets; (ii) the assessment whether the AIF or the AIFM acting on behalf of the AIF holds the ownership shall be based on information or documents provided by the AIF or the AIFM and, where available, on external evidence; (iii) the depositary shall keep its record up-to-date.

9. In addition to the tasks referred to in paragraphs 7 and 8, the depositary shall: (a) ensure that the sale, issue, re-purchase, redemption and cancellation of units or shares of the AIF are carried out in accordance with the applicable national law and the AIF rules or instruments of incorporation; (b) ensure that the value of the units or shares of the AIF is calculated in accordance with the applicable national law, the AIF rules or instruments of incorporation and the procedures laid down in Article 19; (c) carry out the instructions of the AIFM, unless they conflict with the applicable national law or the AIF rules or instruments of incorporation; (d) ensure that in transactions involving the AIF’s assets any consideration is remitted to the AIF within the usual time limits; (e) ensure that an AIF’s income is applied in accordance with the applicable national law and the AIF rules or instruments of incorporation.

10. In the context of their respective roles, the AIFM and the depositary shall act honestly, fairly, professionally, independently and in the interest of the AIF and the investors of the AIF.

A depositary shall not carry out activities with regard to the AIF or the AIFM on behalf of the AIF that may create conflicts of interest between the AIF, the investors in the AIF, the AIFM and itself, unless the depositary has functionally and hierarchically separated the performance of its depositary tasks from its other potentially conflicting tasks, and the potential conflicts of interest are properly identified, managed, monitored and disclosed to the investors of the AIF.

The assets referred to in paragraph 8 shall not be reused by the depositary without the prior consent of the AIF or the AIFM acting on behalf of the AIF.

11. The depositary shall not delegate to third parties its functions as described in this Article, save for those referred to in paragraph 8.

The depositary may delegate to third parties the functions referred to in paragraph 8 subject to the following conditions:

(a) the tasks are not delegated with the intention of avoiding the requirements of this Directive;

(b) the depositary can demonstrate that there is an objective reason for the delegation;

(c) the depositary has exercised all due skill, care and diligence in the selection and the appointment of any third party to whom it wants to delegate parts of its tasks, and keeps exercising all due skill, care and diligence in the periodic review and ongoing monitoring of any third party to whom it has delegated parts of its tasks and of the arrangements of the third party in respect of the matters delegated to it; and

(d) the depositary ensures that the third party meets the following conditions at all times during the performance of the tasks delegated to it: (i) the third party has the structures and the expertise that are adequate and proportionate to the nature and complexity of the assets of the AIF or the AIFM acting on behalf of the AIF which have been entrusted to it; (ii) for custody tasks referred to in point (a) of paragraph 8, the third party is subject to effective prudential regulation, including minimum capital requirements, and supervision in the jurisdiction concerned and the third party is subject to an external periodic audit to ensure that the financial instruments are in its possession; (iii) the third party segregates the assets of the depositary’s clients from its own assets and from the assets of the depositary in such a way that they can at any time be clearly identified as belonging to clients of a particular depositary; (iv) the third party does not make use of the assets without the prior consent of the AIF or the AIFM acting on behalf of the AIF and prior notification to the depositary; and (v) the third party complies with the general obligations and prohibitions set out in paragraphs 8 and 10.

Notwithstanding point (d)(ii) of the second subparagraph, where the law of a third country requires that certain financial instruments be held in custody by a local entity and no local entities satisfy the delegation requirements laid down in that point, the depositary may delegate its functions to such a local entity only to the extent required by the law of the third country and only for as long as there are no local entities that satisfy the delegation requirements, subject to the following requirements:

(a) the investors of the relevant AIF must be duly informed that such delegation is required due to legal constraints in the law of the third country and of the circumstances justifying the delegation, prior to their investment; and

(b) the AIF, or the AIFM on behalf of the AIF, must instruct the depositary to delegate the custody of such financial instruments to such local entity.

The third party may, in turn, sub-delegate those functions, subject to the same requirements. In such a case, paragraph 13 shall apply mutatis mutandis to the relevant parties.

For the purposes of this paragraph, the provision of services as specified by Directive 98/26/EC by securities settlement systems as designated for the purposes of that Directive or the provision of similar services by third-country securities settlement systems shall not be considered a delegation of its custody functions.

12. The depositary shall be liable to the AIF or to the investors of the AIF, for the loss by the depositary or a third party to whom the custody of financial instruments held in custody in accordance with point (a) of paragraph 8 has been delegated.

In the case of such a loss of a financial instrument held in custody, the depositary shall return a financial instrument of identical type or the corresponding amount to the AIF or the AIFM acting on behalf of the AIF without undue delay. The depositary shall not be liable if it can prove that the loss has arisen as a result of an external event beyond its reasonable control, the consequences of which would have been unavoidable despite all reasonable efforts to the contrary.

The depositary shall also be liable to the AIF, or to the investors of the AIF, for all other losses suffered by them as a result of the depositary’s negligent or intentional failure to properly fulfil its obligations pursuant to this Directive.

13. The depositary’s liability shall not be affected by any delegation referred to in paragraph 11.

Notwithstanding the first subparagraph of this paragraph, in case of a loss of financial instruments held in custody by a third party pursuant to paragraph 11, the depositary may discharge itself of liability if it can prove that:

(a) all requirements for the delegation of its custody tasks set out in the second subparagraph of paragraph 11 are met;

(b) a written contract between the depositary and the third party expressly transfers the liability of the depositary to that third party and makes it possible for the AIF or the AIFM acting on behalf of the AIF to make a claim against the third party in respect of the loss of financial instruments or for the depositary to make such a claim on their behalf; and

(c) a written contract between the depositary and the AIF or the AIFM acting on behalf of the AIF, expressly allows a discharge of the depositary’s liability and establishes the objective reason to contract such a discharge.

14. Further, where the law of a third country requires that certain financial instruments are held in custody by a local entity and there are no local entities that satisfy the delegation requirements laid down in point (d)(ii) of paragraph 11, the depositary can discharge itself of liability provided that the following conditions are met: (a) the rules or instruments of incorporation of the AIF concerned expressly allow for such a discharge under the conditions set out in this paragraph; (b) the investors of the relevant AIF have been duly informed of that discharge and of the circumstances justifying the discharge prior to their investment; (c) the AIF or the AIFM on behalf of the AIF instructed the depositary to delegate the custody of such financial instruments to a local entity; (d) there is a written contract between the depositary and the AIF or the AIFM acting on behalf of the AIF, which expressly allows such a discharge; and (e) there is a written contract between the depositary and the third party that expressly transfers the liability of the depositary to that local entity and makes it possible for the AIF or the AIFM acting on behalf of the AIF to make a claim against that local entity in respect of the loss of financial instruments or for the depositary to make such a claim on their behalf.

15. Liability to the investors of the AIF may be invoked directly or indirectly through the AIFM, depending on the legal nature of the relationship between the depositary, the AIFM and the investors.

16. The depositary shall make available to its competent authorities, on request, all information which it has obtained while performing its duties and that may be necessary for the competent authorities of the AIF or the AIFM. If the competent authorities of the AIF or the AIFM are different from those of the depositary, the competent authorities of the depositary shall share the information received without delay with the competent authorities of the AIF and the AIFM.

17. The Commission shall adopt, by means of delegated acts in accordance with Article 56 and subject to the conditions of Articles 57 and 58, measures specifying: (a) the particulars that need to be included in the written contract referred to in paragraph 2; (b) general criteria for assessing whether the prudential regulation and supervision of third countries as referred to in point (b) of paragraph 6 have the same effect as Union law and are effectively enforced; (c) the conditions for performing the depositary functions pursuant to paragraphs 7, 8 and 9, including: (i) the type of financial instruments to be included in the scope of the depositary’s custody duties in accordance with point (a) of paragraph 8; (ii) the conditions subject to which the depositary is able to exercise its custody duties over financial instruments registered with a central depositary; and (iii) the conditions subject to which the depositary is to safekeep the financial instruments issued in a nominative form and registered with an issuer or a registrar, in accordance with point (b) of paragraph 8; (d) the due diligence duties of depositaries pursuant to point (c) of paragraph 11; (e) the segregation obligation pursuant to point (d)(iii) of paragraph 11; (f) the conditions subject to which and circumstances in which financial instruments held in custody are to be considered as lost; (g) what is to be understood by external events beyond reasonable control, the consequences of which would have been unavoidable despite all reasonable efforts to the contrary pursuant to paragraph 12; (h) the conditions subject to which and circumstances in which there is an objective reason to contract a discharge pursuant to paragraph 13.







CHAPTER IV

TRANSPARENCY REQUIREMENTS

Article 22

Annual report

1. An AIFM shall, for each of the EU AIFs it manages and for each of the AIFs it markets in the Union, make available an annual report for each financial year no later than 6 months following the end of the financial year. The annual report shall be provided to investors on request. The annual report shall be made available to the competent authorities of the home Member State of the AIFM, and, where applicable, the home Member State of the AIF.

Where the AIF is required to make public an annual financial report in accordance with Directive 2004/109/EC only such additional information referred to in paragraph 2 needs to be provided to investors on request, either separately or as an additional part of the annual financial report. In the latter case the annual financial report shall be made public no later than 4 months following the end of the financial year.

2. The annual report shall at least contain the following: (a) a balance-sheet or a statement of assets and liabilities; (b) an income and expenditure account for the financial year; (c) a report on the activities of the financial year; (d) any material changes in the information listed in Article 23 during the financial year covered by the report; (e) the total amount of remuneration for the financial year, split into fixed and variable remuneration, paid by the AIFM to its staff, and number of beneficiaries, and, where relevant, carried interest paid by the AIF; (f) the aggregate amount of remuneration broken down by senior management and members of staff of the AIFM whose actions have a material impact on the risk profile of the AIF.

3. The accounting information given in the annual report shall be prepared in accordance with the accounting standards of the home Member State of the AIF or in accordance with the accounting standards of the third country where the AIF is established and with the accounting rules laid down in the AIF rules or instruments of incorporation.

The accounting information given in the annual report shall be audited by one or more persons empowered by law to audit accounts in accordance with Directive 2006/43/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 May 2006 on statutory audits of annual accounts and consolidated accounts ( 8 ). The auditor’s report, including any qualifications, shall be reproduced in full in the annual report.

By way of derogation from the second subparagraph, Member States may permit AIFMs marketing non-EU AIFs to subject the annual reports of those AIFs to an audit meeting international auditing standards in force in the country where the AIF has its registered office.

4. The Commission shall adopt, by means of delegated acts in accordance with Article 56 and subject to the conditions of Articles 57 and 58, measures specifying the content and format of the annual report. Those measures shall be adapted to the type of AIF to which they apply.

Article 23

Disclosure to investors

1. AIFMs shall for each of the EU AIFs that they manage and for each of the AIFs that they market in the Union make available to AIF investors, in accordance with the AIF rules or instruments of incorporation, the following information before they invest in the AIF, as well as any material changes thereof: (a) a description of the investment strategy and objectives of the AIF, information on where any master AIF is established and where the underlying funds are established if the AIF is a fund of funds, a description of the types of assets in which the AIF may invest, the techniques it may employ and all associated risks, any applicable investment restrictions, the circumstances in which the AIF may use leverage, the types and sources of leverage permitted and the associated risks, any restrictions on the use of leverage and any collateral and asset reuse arrangements, and the maximum level of leverage which the AIFM are entitled to employ on behalf of the AIF; (b) a description of the procedures by which the AIF may change its investment strategy or investment policy, or both; (c) a description of the main legal implications of the contractual relationship entered into for the purpose of investment, including information on jurisdiction, on the applicable law and on the existence or not of any legal instruments providing for the recognition and enforcement of judgments in the territory where the AIF is established; (d) the identity of the AIFM, the AIF’s depositary, auditor and any other service providers and a description of their duties and the investors’ rights; (e) a description of how the AIFM is complying with the requirements of Article 9(7); (f) a description of any delegated management function as referred to in Annex I by the AIFM and of any safe-keeping function delegated by the depositary, the identification of the delegate and any conflicts of interest that may arise from such delegations; (g) a description of the AIF’s valuation procedure and of the pricing methodology for valuing assets, including the methods used in valuing hard-to-value assets in accordance with Article 19; (h) a description of the AIF’s liquidity risk management, including the redemption rights both in normal and in exceptional circumstances, and the existing redemption arrangements with investors; (i) a description of all fees, charges and expenses and of the maximum amounts thereof which are directly or indirectly borne by investors; (j) a description of how the AIFM ensures a fair treatment of investors and, whenever an investor obtains preferential treatment or the right to obtain preferential treatment, a description of that preferential treatment, the type of investors who obtain such preferential treatment and, where relevant, their legal or economic links with the AIF or AIFM; (k) the latest annual report referred to in Article 22; (l) the procedure and conditions for the issue and sale of units or shares; (m) the latest net asset value of the AIF or the latest market price of the unit or share of the AIF, in accordance with Article 19; (n) where available, the historical performance of the AIF; (o) the identity of the prime broker and a description of any material arrangements of the AIF with its prime brokers and the way the conflicts of interest in relation thereto are managed and the provision in the contract with the depositary on the possibility of transfer and reuse of AIF assets, and information about any transfer of liability to the prime broker that may exist; (p) a description of how and when the information required under paragraphs 4 and 5 will be disclosed.

2. The AIFM shall inform the investors before they invest in the AIF of any arrangement made by the depositary to contractually discharge itself of liability in accordance with Article 21(13). The AIFM shall also inform investors of any changes with respect to depositary liability without delay.

3. Where the AIF is required to publish a prospectus in accordance with Directive 2003/71/EC or in accordance with national law, only such information referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 which is in addition to that contained in the prospectus needs to be disclosed separately or as additional information in the prospectus.

4. AIFMs shall, for each of the EU AIFs that they manage and for each of the AIFs that they market in the Union, periodically disclose to investors: (a) the percentage of the AIF’s assets which are subject to special arrangements arising from their illiquid nature; (b) any new arrangements for managing the liquidity of the AIF; (c) the current risk profile of the AIF and the risk management systems employed by the AIFM to manage those risks.

5. AIFMs managing EU AIFs employing leverage or marketing in the Union AIFs employing leverage shall, for each such AIF disclose, on a regular basis: (a) any changes to the maximum level of leverage which the AIFM may employ on behalf of the AIF as well as any right of the reuse of collateral or any guarantee granted under the leveraging arrangement; (b) the total amount of leverage employed by that AIF.

6. The Commission shall adopt, by means of delegated acts in accordance with Article 56 and subject to the conditions of Articles 57 and 58, measures specifying the disclosure obligations of AIFMs referred to in paragraphs 4 and 5, including the frequency of the disclosure referred to in paragraph 5. Those measures shall be adapted to the type of AIFM to which they apply.

Article 24

Reporting obligations to competent authorities

1. An AIFM shall regularly report to the competent authorities of its home Member State on the principal markets and instruments in which it trades on behalf of the AIFs it manages.

It shall provide information on the main instruments in which it is trading, on markets of which it is a member or where it actively trades, and on the principal exposures and most important concentrations of each of the AIFs it manages.

2. An AIFM shall, for each of the EU AIFs it manages and for each of the AIFs it markets in the Union, provide the following to the competent authorities of its home Member State: (a) the percentage of the AIF’s assets which are subject to special arrangements arising from their illiquid nature; (b) any new arrangements for managing the liquidity of the AIF; (c) the current risk profile of the AIF and the risk management systems employed by the AIFM to manage the market risk, liquidity risk, counterparty risk and other risks including operational risk; (d) information on the main categories of assets in which the AIF invested; and (e) the results of the stress tests performed in accordance with point (b) of Article 15(3) and the second subparagraph of Article 16(1).

3. The AIFM shall, on request, provide the following documents to the competent authorities of its home Member State: (a) an annual report of each EU AIF managed by the AIFM and of each AIF marketed by it in the Union, for each financial year, in accordance with Article 22(1); (b) for the end of each quarter a detailed list of all AIFs which the AIFM manages.

4. An AIFM managing AIFs employing leverage on a substantial basis shall make available information about the overall level of leverage employed by each AIF it manages, a break-down between leverage arising from borrowing of cash or securities and leverage embedded in financial derivatives and the extent to which the AIF’s assets have been reused under leveraging arrangements to the competent authorities of its home Member State.

That information shall include the identity of the five largest sources of borrowed cash or securities for each of the AIFs managed by the AIFM, and the amounts of leverage received from each of those sources for each of those AIFs.

For non-EU AIFMs, the reporting obligations referred to in this paragraph are limited to EU AIFs managed by them and non-EU AIFs marketed by them in the Union.

5. Where necessary for the effective monitoring of systemic risk, the competent authorities of the home Member State may require information in addition to that described in this Article, on a periodic as well as on an ad-hoc basis. The competent authorities shall inform ESMA about the additional information requirements.

In exceptional circumstances and where required in order to ensure the stability and integrity of the financial system, or to promote long-term sustainable growth, ESMA may request the competent authorities of the home Member State to impose additional reporting requirements.

6. The Commission shall adopt, by means of delegated acts in accordance with Article 56 and subject to the conditions of Articles 57 and 58, measures specifying: (a) when leverage is to be considered to be employed on a substantial basis for the purposes of paragraph 4; and (b) the obligations to report and provide information provided for in this Article.

Those measures shall take into account the need to avoid an excessive administrative burden on competent authorities.







CHAPTER V

AIFMs MANAGING SPECIFIC TYPES OF AIF







SECTION 1

AIFMs managing leveraged AIFs

Article 25

Use of information by competent authorities, supervisory cooperation and limits to leverage

1. Member States shall ensure that the competent authorities of the home Member State of the AIFM use the information to be gathered under Article 24 for the purposes of identifying the extent to which the use of leverage contributes to the build-up of systemic risk in the financial system, risks of disorderly markets or risks to the long-term growth of the economy.

2. The competent authorities of the home Member State of the AIFM shall ensure that all information gathered under Article 24 in respect of all AIFMs that they supervise and the information gathered under Article 7 is made available to competent authorities of other relevant Member States, ESMA and the ESRB by means of the procedures set out in Article 50 on supervisory cooperation. They shall, without delay, also provide information by means of those procedures, and bilaterally to the competent authorities of other Member States directly concerned, if an AIFM under their responsibility, or AIF managed by that AIFM could potentially constitute an important source of counterparty risk to a credit institution or other systemically relevant institutions in other Member States.

3. The AIFM shall demonstrate that the leverage limits set by it for each AIF it manages are reasonable and that it complies with those limits at all times. The competent authorities shall assess the risks that the use of leverage by an AIFM with respect to the AIFs it manages could entail, and, where deemed necessary in order to ensure the stability and integrity of the financial system, the competent authorities of the home Member State of the AIFM, after having notified ESMA, the ESRB and the competent authorities of the relevant AIF, shall impose limits to the level of leverage that an AIFM are entitled to employ or other restrictions on the management of the AIF with respect to the AIFs under its management to limit the extent to which the use of leverage contributes to the build up of systemic risk in the financial system or risks of disorderly markets. The competent authorities of the home Member State of the AIFM shall duly inform ESMA, the ESRB and the competent authorities of the AIF, of actions taken in this respect, through the procedures set out in Article 50.

4. The notification referred to in paragraph 3 shall be made not less than 10 working days before the proposed measure is intended to take effect or to be renewed. The notification shall include details of the proposed measure, the reasons for the measure and when the measure is intended to take effect. In exceptional circumstances, the competent authorities of the home Member State of the AIFM may decide that the proposed measure takes effect within the period referred to in the first sentence.

5. ESMA shall perform a facilitation and coordination role, and, in particular, shall try to ensure that a consistent approach is taken by competent authorities, in relation to measures proposed by competent authorities under paragraph 3.

6. After receiving the notification referred to in paragraph 3, ESMA shall issue advice to the competent authorities of the home Member State of the AIFM about the measure that is proposed or taken. The advice may, in particular, address whether the conditions for taking action appear to be met, whether the measures are appropriate and the duration of the measures.

7. On the basis of the information received in accordance with paragraph 2, and after taking into account any advice of the ESRB, ESMA may determine that the leverage employed by an AIFM, or by a group of AIFMs, poses a substantial risk to the stability and integrity of the financial system and may issue advice to competent authorities specifying the remedial measures to be taken, including limits to the level of leverage, which that AIFM, or that group of AIFMs, are entitled to employ. ESMA shall immediately inform the competent authorities concerned, the ESRB and the Commission of any such determination.

8. If a competent authority proposes to take action contrary to ESMA’s advice referred to in paragraph 6 or 7 it shall inform ESMA, stating its reasons. ESMA may publish the fact that a competent authority does not comply or intend to comply with its advice. ESMA may also decide, on a case-by-case basis, to publish the reasons provided by the competent authority for not complying with its advice. The competent authorities concerned shall receive advance notice about such a publication.

9. The Commission shall adopt, by means of delegated acts in accordance with Article 56 and subject to the conditions of Articles 57 and 58, measures setting out principles specifying the circumstances in which competent authorities apply the provisions set out in paragraph 3, taking into account different strategies of AIFs, different market conditions in which AIFs operate and possible pro-cyclical effects of applying those provisions.







SECTION 2

Obligations for AIFMs managing AIFs which acquire control of non-listed companies and issuers

Article 26

Scope

1. This Section shall apply to the following: (a) AIFMs managing one or more AIFs which either individually or jointly on the basis of an agreement aimed at acquiring control, acquire control of a non-listed company in accordance with paragraph 5; (b) AIFMs cooperating with one or more other AIFMs on the basis of an agreement pursuant to which the AIFs managed by those AIFMs jointly, acquire control of a non-listed company in accordance with paragraph 5.

2. This Section shall not apply where the non-listed companies concerned are: (a) small and medium-sized enterprises within the meaning of Article 2(1) of the Annex to Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC of 6 May 2003 concerning the definition of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises ( 9 ); or (b) special purpose vehicles with the purpose of purchasing, holding or administrating real estate.

3. Without prejudice to paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article, Article 27(1) shall also apply to AIFMs managing AIFs that acquire a non-controlling participation in a non-listed company.

4. Article 28(1), (2) and (3) and Article 30 shall apply also to AIFMs managing AIFs that acquire control over issuers. For the purposes of those Articles, paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article shall apply mutatis mutandis .

5. For the purpose of this Section, for non-listed companies, control shall mean more than 50 % of the voting rights of the companies.

When calculating the percentage of voting rights held by the relevant AIF, in addition to the voting rights held directly by the relevant AIF, the voting rights of the following shall be taken into account, subject to control as referred to in the first subparagraph being established:

(a) an undertaking controlled by the AIF; and

(b) a natural or legal person acting in its own name but on behalf of the AIF or on behalf of an undertaking controlled by the AIF.

The percentage of voting rights shall be calculated on the basis of all the shares to which voting rights are attached even if the exercise thereof is suspended.

Notwithstanding point (i) of Article 4(1), for the purpose of Article 28(1), (2) and (3) and Article 30 in regard to issuers control shall be determined in accordance with Article 5(3) of Directive 2004/25/EC.

6. This Section shall apply subject to the conditions and restrictions set out in Article 6 of Directive 2002/14/