Last July ESMA provided its advice and opinion to the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on:
- the extension of the passport regime to non-EEA AIFMs; and
- the marketing of non-EEA AIFs by EEA AIFMs.
At that time it was positive as to the extension of the passport regime for Guernsey, Jersey and Switzerland, with a delay in the decision in respect of Hong Kong, Singapore and the US – see Regulatory Roundup 66 for further information.
A follow-up article in Regulatory Roundup 69 advised that a second round of non-EEA country assessments were to take place (with no firm commencement date) in respect of:
- Cayman Islands
- Isle of Man
- Bermuda
- Australia
- Canada
- Japan
ESMA has recently published the letter it received from the European Commission in respect of its advice.
In the letter the Commission advises that a decision will be taken with regard to the extension of the AIFMD passport to managers and funds established in third countries “when a sufficient number of countries have been appropriately assessed”. Whilst at first sight this may seem rather nebulous, the letter then goes on to invite ESMA to complete the assessment of the six countries above and Hong Kong, Singapore and the US by 30 June 2016. Elsewhere. ESMA is invited to provide a preliminary assessment of the expected inflow of funds by type and size into the EU from relevant third countries in order to better assess any potential market disruption and competition effects of granting the passport.
