The Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive


Book Description

Apart from MiFID, the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) may be the most important European asset management regulation of the early twenty-first century. In this in-depth analytical and critical discussion of the content and system of the directive, thirty-eight contributing authors – academics, lawyers, consultants, fund supervisors, and fund industry experts – examine the AIFMD from every angle. They cover structure, regulatory history, scope, appointment and authorization of the manager, the requirements for depositaries and prime brokers, rules on delegation, reporting requirements, transitional provisions, and the objectives stipulated in the recitals and other official documents. The challenging implications and contexts they examine include the following: – connection with systemic risk and the financial crisis; - nexus with insurance for negligent conduct; - connection with corporate governance doctrine; - risk management; - transparency; - the cross-border dimension; - liability for lost assets; - impact on alternative investment strategies, and - the nexus with the European Regulation on Long-Term Investment Funds (ELTIFR). Nine country reports, representing most of Europe’s financial centres and fund markets add a national perspective to the discussion of the European regulation. These chapters deal with the potential interactions among the AIFMD and the relevant laws and regulations of Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, The Netherlands, Malta and the United Kingdom. The second edition of the book continues to deliver not only the much-needed discussion of the inconsistencies and difficulties when applying the directive, but also provides guidance and potential solutions to the problems it raises. The second edition considers all new developments in the field of alternative investment funds, their managers, depositaries, and prime brokers, including, but not limited to, statements by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and national competent authorities on the interpretation of the AIFMD, as well as new European regulation, in particular the PRIIPS Regulation, the ELTIF Regulation, the Regulation on European Venture Capital Funds (EuVeCaR), the Regulation on European Social Entrepreneurship Funds (EUSEFR), MiFID II, and UCITS V. The book will be warmly welcomed by investors and their counsel, fund managers, depositaries, asset managers, administrators, as well as regulators and academics in the field.




Hedge Fund Regulation in the European Union


Book Description

While hedge funds have been part and parcel of the global asset management landscape for well over fifty years, it is only relatively recently that they came to prominence as one of the fastest growing and most vigorous sub-sectors of the financial services industry. Despite their growing significance for global and European financial markets, hedge funds continue enjoying a sui generis regulatory status. The ongoing credit crisis and its lessons for the wisdom of unregulated or loosely regulated pockets of financial activity raise, with renewed urgency, the issue of deciding how long for the relative regulatory immunity of hedge funds is to be tolerated in the name of financial innovation. This well-thought-out book, the first of its kind in this particular field, examines the case for the European onshore hedge fund industry’s regulation, making concrete proposals for its normative future. Following a detailed account of the ‘established’ regulatory systems in Ireland and Luxembourg, as well as of the ‘emerging’ hedge fund jurisdictions in Italy, France, Spain and Germany, and of the regulatory treatment of hedge funds in the UK, this book examines to what extent the continuing exclusion of hedge funds from harmonized European regulation is defensible, whether their differences to traditional asset management products justify their distinct regulatory treatment and, ultimately, if their EU-wide regulation is possible and, if so, what form this should take. This book offers enormously valuable insights into all facets of the subject of the regulation of hedge funds, including: the legitimacy of the public policy interest in their activities; the conceptual underpinnings and systemic stability emphasis of a realistic hedge fund regulatory scheme; the main parameters of a workable onshore hedge fund regulatory framework; the role of investor protection and market integrity as part of a holistic hedge fund regulatory scheme; the possible use of the UCITS framework as a foundation for the EU-wide regulation of hedge funds; the MiFID’s impact on the regulatory future of the European hedge fund industry; existing cross-jurisdictional differences and similarities in the normative treatment of hedge funds within the EU; hitherto initiatives and recommendations of the Community institutions and bodies; and the need for more efficient co-operation and information-sharing arrangements amongst national supervisors for the monitoring of the cross-border risks inherent in the activities of hedge funds. As the first ever comprehensive account of the profile, main features and normative future of the contemporary global and European hedge fund markets – including a systematic inquiry into the conceptual underpinnings of hedge fund regulation and a detailed examination of the European hedge fund industry’s treatment under Community and domestic law – this book represents a major contribution to the literature on hedge funds and their regulation which, through its concrete proposals for the onshore industry’s regulation and its clear analysis of the conditions necessary for their implementation, should be of extraordinary value to policymakers, supervisors and academics alike.




Directive on alternative investment fund managers


Book Description

Directive on alternative investment fund Managers : 3rd report of session 2009-10, Vol. 2: Evidence




Comparative Law Yearbook of International Business 2010


Book Description

This edition of the Comparative Law Yearbook of International Business provides a general examination of issues vital to the world's economic recovery. In the field of company law, practitioners examine changes in Russia's corporate law and the new Ukrainian law governing joint-stock companies. In the area of competition law, lawyers review Serbia and Bulgaria's new laws on the protection of competition and the private enforcement of Articles 101 and 102 in Europe's national courts. Dispute resolution occupies two chapters, one dealing with best practices for drafting arbitration clauses and the other set aside, recognition, and enforcement of private commercial arbitration awards. A further two chapters treat employment and labor matters relating to distribution and commercial representation, indemnity upon termination, and processing personal data in the employment context of Hungary. In the area of financial services, practitioners from five jurisdictions deal with fiduciary duty, the European Commission's proposed Directive on Alternative Investment Fund Managers, Swiss disclosure rules on significant shareholdings, restructuring and refinancing routes for mortgage-secured debt in Spain, and insurance laws and regulations in Nigeria. Foreign investment is examined by two authors, reporting on 2008 and 2009 developments in investment treaty disputes and foreign investment in Indonesia. Intellectual property issues are reviewed in chapters relating to the use of intellectual property as collateral in secured financing and intellectual property licensing in Canada. Finally, lawyers treaty a variety of other issues, including the tax law of Liechtenstein, European Union-Israel trade in the automobile sector, insolvency risk and creditors' rights in Peru, the modernizing of trust law in Hong Kong and bridging cultural differences in international Transactions.




Regulating Hedge Funds in the EU


Book Description

Hedge funds remain the most controversial vehicles of the alternative investment funds universe. Their opaque nature, alleged role in major crises around the world and perceived lack of investor protection have repeatedly led to calls for greater regulation. Yet despite its tremendous growth, the hedge fund industry is still shrouded in a veil of mystery largely due to the highly complex and dynamic trading strategies employed by hedge funds and the scarcity of information about them. For the first time in one comprehensive volume, this concise but thorough guide explains how hedge funds work, analyses risk, compares the European Union (EU) and United States (US) systems and proposes reforms to the European framework in order to improve its resilience. Focusing on the contribution of the hedge fund industry to systemic risk, the author elucidates the complex world of hedge funds and the legal issues linked to it. The analysis proceeds as follows: introduction to the world of hedge funds – definition, main characteristics, organizational structure, investment strategies, and benefits; deeply informed exploration of the dangers posed by hedge funds; documentation and examination of the major incidents connecting hedge funds and financial crises; rationales for regulation of hedge funds; comparison of relevant legislative developments in the US and EU; and proposals for strengthening the current EU supervisory and regulatory framework. Guiding legislation, such as the EU Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive and the US Dodd-Frank Act, is analysed, along with topical issues such as hedge fund activism. Because the direction that hedge fund regulation takes in the future has implications for the Eurozone and systemic risk in the wider financial system, this book will be of immeasurable value to professionals in both the legal and business communities. It will be welcomed by corporate lawyers, regulatory authorities, policymakers and academics in both business-related and finance-related disciplines.




EU Securities and Financial Markets Regulation


Book Description

Over the decade or so since the global financial crisis rocked EU financial markets and led to wide-ranging reforms, EU securities and financial markets regulation has continued to evolve. The legislative framework has been refined and administrative rulemaking has expanded. Alongside, the Capital Markets Union agenda has developed, the UK has left the EU, and ESMA has emerged as a decisive influence on EU financial markets governance. All these developments, as well as the Covid-19 pandemic, have shaped the regulatory landscape and how supervision is organized. EU Securities and Financial Markets Regulation provides a comprehensive, critical, and contextual account of the intricate rulebook that governs EU financial markets and its supporting institutional arrangements. It is framed by an assessment of how the regime has evolved over the decade or so since the global financial crisis and considers, among other matters, the post-crisis reforms to key legislative measures, the massive expansion of administrative rulemaking and of soft law, the Capital Markets Union agenda, the development of supervisory convergence as the means for organizing pan-EU supervision, and ESMA's role in EU financial markets governance. Its coverage extends from capital-raising and the Prospectus Regulation to financial market intermediation and the MiFID II/MiFIR and IFD/IFR regimes, to the new regulatory regimes adopted since the global financial crisis (including for benchmarks and their administrators), to retail market regulation and the PRIIPs Regulation, and on to the EU's third country regime and the implications of the UK's departure from the EU. This is the fourth edition of the highly successful and authoritative monograph first published as EC Securities Regulation. Heavily revised from the third edition to reflect developments since the global financial crisis, it adopts the in-depth contextual and analytical approach of earlier editions and so considers the market, political, institutional, and international context of the regulatory and supervisory regime.




The MiFID Revolution


Book Description

An in-depth understanding of this new EU directive, with aspects and implications for the different business lines in financial markets.




Financial Regulation in the EU


Book Description

Financial regulation has dramatically evolved and strengthened since the crisis on both sides of the Atlantic, with enhanced international coordination through the G-20 and the Financial Stability Board and, at the regional level, a definite contribution from the European Union. However the new regulatory environment has its critics, with many divergent voices arguing that over-regulation has become a root cause of our current economic stagnation. This book provides a bigger picture view of the impact and future of financial regulation in the EU, exploring the relationship between microeconomic incentives and macroeconomic growth, regulation and financial integration, and the changes required in economic policy to further European integration. Bringing together contributions from law, economics and management science, it offers readers an accessible but rigorous understanding of the current state of play of the regulatory environment, and on the future challenges. Coverage will include: • A review of the recent regulatory changes from a legal and economic perspective • Analysis of how the economic model of financial institutions and entities is impacted by the new frameworks • How to improve securitization and new instruments under MIFID II • Issues in the enhanced supervision under delegated acts for AIFMD, CRR-CRD IV and Solvency II • How long term funding can be supplied in lieu of the non-conventional monetary policies • A new architecture for a safer and more efficient European financial system Financial Regulation in the EU provides much needed clarity on the impact of new financial regulation and the future of the economy, and will prove a must have reference for all those working in, researching and affected by these changes.




Pouring Old Wine Into New Skins?


Book Description

Asset management has quickly become one of the European Commission's key points on the post- Financial Services Action Plan (FSAP) agenda. The combination of Europe's demographic decline and the poor state of public finances means that asset management will play an increasingly important role in securing retirement income for the masses, as well as in channeling personal savings to productive investments. At the same time, the internal market for asset management is a project still very much under construction. While the commission's work has largely focused on supply-side considerations with a view to improving overall market integration and efficiency, this report tackles some key demand-side issues. The authors take a longer-term approach to the critical challenges that will arise following release of the European Commission's White Paper in the fall of 2006.




Multilingual Interpretation of European Union Law


Book Description

The Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) may be the most important European asset management regulation of the early 21st century. However, a preponderance of practitioners and academics in the field argue that, in its present form, the directive is seriously out of touch with both the system of European financial law and industry practice. In this first in-depth analytical and critical discussion of the content and system of the directive, thirty-four contributing authors – academics, lawyers, consultants, fund supervisors, and fund industry experts – examine the AIFMD from every angle. They cover structure, regulatory history, scope, appointment and authorization of the manager, rules on delegation, reporting requirements, transitional provisions, and the objectives stipulated in the recitals and other official documents. The challenging implications and contexts they examine include the following: connection with systemic risk and the financial crisis; impact on money laundering and financial crime; nexus with insurance for negligent conduct; connection with corporate governance doctrine; risk management; transparency; the cross-border dimension; liability for lost assets; and impact on alternative investment strategies. Ten country reports add a national perspective to the discussion of the European regulation. These chapters deal with the potential interactions among the AIFMD and the relevant laws and regulations of Italy, Switzerland, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Austria, Liechtenstein, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Ireland. The former are Europe’s most vibrant financial centres and markets. Designed to spur a critical attitude towards the emerging new European financial markets framework presaged by the AIFMD, this much-needed discussion not only elaborates on the inconsistencies and difficulties sure to be encountered when applying the directive, but also provides potential solutions to the problems it raises. The book will be warmly welcomed by investors and their counsel, fund managers, depositaries, asset managers, and administrators, as well as academics in the field.