AIFMD – Maijoor Updates on Extension of Passport to Non-EU AIFMs and ESMA Publishes Consultation Response to UCITS and AIF Remuneration Guidelines

Steven Maijoor, ESMA chair, appeared before the European Parliament on 13 October in relation to ESMA’s July advice on the application of the AIFMD passport to non-EU AIFMs and AIFs.

Maijoor emphasised that:

• ESMA will continue its assessment of Hong Kong, Singapore and the US with a view to reaching a definitive conclusion on whether to extend the passport to those countries; and
• it will start to assess a second group of non-EU countries, namely Australia, Canada, Japan, the Cayman Islands, the Isle of Man and Bermuda.

Read the Press Release 'Opening Statement - Steven Maijoor to ECON Scrutiny Hearing on AIFMD Passport'

ESMA published the responses received to its Consultation on Guidelines on sound remuneration policies under the UCITS Directive and AIFMD on 29 October.

Read the Press Release 'ESMA publishes responses to the Consultation on Guidelines on sound remuneration policies under the UCITS Directive and AIFMD'

EMIR – Indirect Clearing Regulatory Technical Standards to Align to MiFIR

ESMA published a letter on 5 October from Commissioner Hill to the European Parliament on regulatory technical standards on indirect clearing under EMIR and MiFIR, stating ESMA intends to conduct a consultation on possible amendments to the EMIR RTS for consistency with the draft MiFIR RTS. 

Capital Markets Union – Beginning of European Parliament scrutiny

Whilst the CMU is still some way off, already there has been scrutiny of its scope and aims.

A motion for a resolution on the failure of the CMU to resolve lack of corporate funding from banks was put before the European Parliament on 16 October.

On the same date, the European Parliament also issued a statement setting out the aims of the CMU – broadly, to strengthen the banking union and revitalise capital markets.

In the context of CMU, 20 October also saw Commissioner Hill setting out how CMU should operate in the “long term” revival of the EU economy.

Other EU Developments – ELTIF Consultation and Amended Transparency Directive

ESMA published the responses received to its consultation on draft Regulatory Technical Standards under the ELTIF Regulation on 20 October.

Read the Press Release 'ESMA publishes responses to the Consultation on draft RTS under the ELTIF Regulation'

ESMA issued a press release and updated Q&A  on 22 October on the Transparency Directive, due to come into force on 26 November 2015 .

The updated Q&A address new and existing requirements and terminology and provide clarification on the definition of a home Member State, the division of responsibilities between home and host Member States, disclosure and dissemination of regulated information and the aggregation rule for the calculation of notification thresholds of voting rights.