Throughout August you will have seen a number of regulators publishing updated circulars, opinions and notices in relation to the application of the ESMA Guidelines on stress test scenarios under the Money Market Fund Regulation (EU) 2017/1131 (MMFR). Including regulators such as the: MFSA, CMVM, Central Bank of Ireland, FSMA & CSSF.
In this month’s round-up, of particular interest, nearly two years after its publication, the EU’s new regulatory framework facilitating the cross-border distribution of collective investment schemes applied from 2nd August. With this we saw several regulators announce the transposition of the new rules.
Welcome to the first monthly regulatory round-up of 2021. Each month we will be summarising the key announcements and regulatory developments impacting the fund industry. The past month brought developments on a range of issues, from updated FAQs and guidelines impacting UCITS and AIFMs, to consultations…
Yesterday, ESMA announced that it will be launching a Common Supervisory Action (CSA) with national competent authorities (NCAs) on the supervision of costs and fees of UCITS across the European Union. The CSA aims to assess the compliance of supervised entities with the relevant cost-related provisions in the UCITS framework, and the obligation of not charging investors with undue costs.
During the CSA, national competent authorities will take into account the supervisory briefing on the supervision of costs published by ESMA in June 2020.
Throughout the year regulators have focused on liquidity, and as this year draws to a close, that focus shows no signs of diminishing. “Asset managers need to step up their efforts to ensure the liquidity of their funds is adequately managed and that they are prepared for future shocks” – that was the closing remarks from Steven Maijoor’s Keynote Address at EFAMA’s Investment Management Forum which heavily focused on liquidity risk.
Last month it was great to see a number of key liquidity developments finally enter into force, including: ESMA’s new guidelines on liquidity stress testing in UCITS and AIFs, The FCA’s new rules for certain open-ended funds investing in inherently illiquid assets; and Article 37 MMF Reporting for both Q1 and Q2.
The big month of liquidity finally arrived where we saw a number of liquidity developments come to fruition at the end of the month, including: ESMA’s new guidelines on liquidity…
The 30 September compliance deadline is fast approaching for a number of liquidity developments. Including: ESMA’s new guidelines on liquidity stress testing in UCITS and AIFs. The FCA’s new rules for certain open-ended funds investing in inherently illiquid assets. FCA and Bank of England survey to review the liquidity mismatch in open ended funds Article 37 MMF Reporting for both Q1 and Q2.
This month’s regulatory round-up pulls together some interesting regulatory developments we have tracked throughout June. The past month brought a number of important developments, particularly on the EU Money Market Fund Regulation, with ESMA publishing updated reporting instructions, and translations to the MMF guidelines.
Fund liquidity problems witnessed in 2019 with Woodford and H2O Asset Management brought liquidity back into the spotlight. Since then, the focus hasn’t really faded on the issue of liquidity, and if anything, has intensified with the COVID-19 pandemic causing market volatility resulting in several more fund suspensions.
Although 2020 has already seen a number of initiatives intended to address liquidity risk, there are still more to come, with September due to be a particular busy month for risk management professionals.
