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MFA Submits Comments to European Commission on Cross-Border Distribution of Investment Funds

On October 9, MFA submitted a comment letter to the European Commission in response to its consultation paper on the cross-border distribution of investment funds. In the letter, MFA noted several barriers to the distribution of alternative investment funds by non-EU managers across multiple EU jurisdictions, including: (1) national rules that go beyond the requirements of the AIFMD, so-called ‘goldplating’; (2) timing issues in the notification and approval process to begin marketing; (3) uncertainty regarding the implementation of the national private placement regime in different jurisdictions, including the scope of activities deemed to be marketing by a fund manager; (4) differences in reporting requirements across jurisdictions; and (5) compliance costs and regulatory fees associated with marketing under the national private placement regimes. In light of these issues, MFA encouraged the European Commission to consider alternative approaches, in addition to the national private placement and passport regimes, for non-EU managers to market to EU investors, such as an optional harmonized private placement regime or a third country equivalence regime, similar to the one adopted in MiFID II.