October 2013 - The European fund industry in October

The European fund industry in October

Fund processing standardisation: mid-2013 update from EFAMA and SWIFT

On 24 October, the European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA) and SWIFT published their mid-year survey on automation and standardisation rates of fund orders received by 32 transfer agents in Luxembourg and Ireland.

During the period the total volume of orders for both countries increased by 15% to 14.3 million. Manually processed orders accounted for 3.2 million of these. For automated orders, the use of proprietary FTP continued to decrease from 33.9% (Q4 2012) to 31.4%. For Luxembourg only, the total automation rate of orders increased by 1.2%. Orders coming from EMEA accounted for around two-thirds of the total in the Grand Duchy.

EFAMA and SWIFT have been publishing this report since May 2009.

Economic and Monetary Affairs committee approves investor information rules

On 22 October, the European parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs committee approved rules related to Key information Documents, or KIDs.

Initially adopted in 2012 by the European Commission as part of various legislative proposals, these KIDs aim to provide clear, comparable and complete information about retail products for investors.

In this regard, they cover a much wider range of investments than the existing KIIDS, or Key Investor Information Documents, that are used by UCITS funds. Indeed, the new KIDs will eventually replace these documents.

In its press release, the Economic and Monetary Affairs committee stated that the KID “should make all risks clear and enable small investors to compare products”.

It is expected that the European parliament will put the rules to a plenary vote in November.

ESMA publishes state of play for AIFMD agreements

On 18 October, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published a table showing the state of play of memoranda of understanding signed by EU national supervisors.

These agreements are between EU and non-EU supervisors and allow the exchange of information, thus enabling non-EU fund managers to market alternative funds within the European Union. It should be remembered that this update is a snapshot at a particular date and there are more signed agreements expected soon.

ESMA’s final guidelines for AIFMD reporting

At the beginning of October, ESMA published its final guidelines on the reporting obligations for alternative investment fund managers.

Part of the AIFMD, the reporting requirements aim to enable closer supervision and greater transparency of alternative funds, as well as to standardise reporting across the EU. ESMA’s guidelines clarify reporting on portfolio concentrations and risk profiles of such funds. They have also published an opinion that proposes introducing additional periodic reporting.

On 9 October, the Luxembourg supervisor, the CSSF, announced that it would publish a circular covering practical aspects and timing for the reporting..

_{Published on: 31 October 2013}
 

Fundsquare News 3 - October 2013