The transposition of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers’ Directive “AIFMD” into national laws by EU Member States remains on course for the 22nd of July 2013. In order to permit the activity of Mauritius fund managers in the EU and the offering of Mauritius funds to European investors after this date, the AIFMD requires the existence of adequate supervisory cooperation arrangements (in the form of a MoU) between the Financial Services Commission of Mauritius “FSC” and the EU authorities – to be coordinated by the European Securities and Markets Authority “ESMA”.
Since approached by ESMA last year to consult on the provisions of this MoU, the FSC has been working closely with the former. The FSC is pleased to announce that the negotiation process is now over and that the Final Text MoU for Mauritius has been finalized.
In terms of the next steps, the Final Text MoU for Mauritius will now be submitted by ESMA for approval by the EU authorities at their next Investment Management Standing Committee to be held on 30 April 2013. The official signing process will take place on 22 May 2013 in Dublin at the occasion of the meeting of the Board of Supervisors of ESMA.
With the signing of this MoU, Mauritius will have satisfied all the conditions under the AIFMD for Mauritius-regulated funds to continue to market in Europe under the private placement regimes of EU Member States after 22 July 2013 (subject to meeting any additional requirement that may be imposed by the EU Member States). Furthermore, by putting this MoU in place well before the deadline, the FSC is hoping that the local industry will now benefit from the longer time span available to complete the administrative requirements vis-à-vis the EU Member States.
Such administrative requirements will entail managers of Mauritius-regulated funds to, first of all, contact the EU regulator(s) where they intend to market their funds to find out if there are any additional conditions to satisfy - the determination of the conditions applicable to non-EU fund managers under the private placement regime (beyond those established in the AIFMD) are left to the discretion of each Member State of the EU. Secondly, Mauritius funds will be required to seek an authorisation from each EU Member State where marketing will be done – the authorisation/notification process may vary among the different EU Member States. Non-EU funds will need to be duly authorised prior to start or continue of marketing in the EU, after 22 July 2013.
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