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• EU cross-border distribution of funds: ESMA guidelines on marketing communications

EU cross-border distribution of funds: ESMA guidelines on marketing communications

Following its consultation in November 2020, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published a final report on guidelines for funds' marketing communications under Article 4 of the Regulation on the cross-border distribution of collective investment undertakings. The final report also gives an overview of the feedback received through the public consultation and explains how ESMA took this feedback into account.

The aim of the guidelines is to specify the requirements for marketing communications sent to investors to promote UCITS and alternative investment funds (AIFs), including European social entrepreneurship funds (EuSEFs), European venture capital funds (EuVECAs) and European long-term investment funds (ELTIFs). Among other things, marketing communications must be identifiable as such and contain clear, fair and not misleading information, taking into account the on-line aspects of marketing communications.

The guidelines are set out in Annex IV of the final report. They will be translated into the official EU languages and published on the ESMA website. The publication of the translations will trigger a two-month period during which national competent authorities must notify ESMA whether they comply or intend to comply with the guidelines. The guidelines will apply six months after the date of the publication of the translations of the guidelines on ESMA's website.