UPDATE: The EU AIFM Directive – the offshore angle

Kieran P.J. Loughran • Posted 08/06/2011 • Under Articles

The EU Directive to regulate Alternative Investment Fund Managers (the “AIFMD”) has been one of the most widely discussed and controversial pieces of regulation in the investment funds industry. As the AIFMD progresses through the Level 2 implementation process the debate shows no sign of abating.

The AIFMD is expected to be published in the Official Journal of the European Union sometime in June 2011 with individual EU Member States required to implement it during the course of 2013.

In respect of Level 2 implementing measures, the European Commission in December 2010 issued a request for technical advice to the Committee of European Securities Regulators (“CESR”) (replaced by ESMA in January 2011) with a response deadline now extended to November 2011. Industry-wide consultation is now taking place as the AIFMD moves towards practical implementation.

For the Cayman Islands, Bermuda and the British Virgin Islands (“BVI”), as the leading international financial centres for alternative investment funds (“AIFs”), many of which have EU based managers, the AIFMD is something which these jurisdictions need to understand and to work alongside in the interests of their funds industry constituents.