Andrew Wylie, Funds and Indirect Real Estate partner, comments on the recent AIFM directive
11 November 2010
The European Parliament has today passed the controversial Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive, which will increase the regulatory burden on all fund managers in the European Union, from hedge funds to private equity funds and real estate funds. Parts of the Directive will also impose a regulatory burden on fund managers based outside the European Union which market their funds inside the European Union.
Key parts of the Directive, such as the regime for marketing funds based outside the European Union, have caused so much friction, particularly between France and the UK, that the Directive does not deal clearly with them. The fund management industry should therefore continue its lobbying efforts as the Directive enters "Level 2" and the European Commission sits down with national regulators to hammer out the detail of the Directive. The UK real estate industry, for one, plans to make sure that holding companies and joint ventures remain out of the scope of the Directive.
Andrew Wylie
Funds and Indirect Real Estate partner
Nabarro LLP
T +44 (0)20 7524 6011
a.wylie@nabarro.com
