The Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (the "AIFMD") introduces new regulatory reporting requirements for alternative investment fund managers ("AIFMs") established in the European Economic Area ("EEA") and non-EEA AIFMs that market their fund in an EEA state. These requirements are broadly similar those already imposed in the U.S. on registered investment advisers that manager private funds, pursuant to the Form PF reporting regime, although there are important differences between AIFMD reporting and Form PF.

In particular, AIFMs that are established in the EEA and non-EEA AIFMs that market into an EEA state must satisfy the AIFMD's regulatory reporting obligations. For a non-EEA AIFM, registering under a private placement regime in an EEA state triggers these requirements. AIFMs that became authorized towards the end of the transitional period (which ended on 22 July 2014), and non-EEA AIFMs that marketed in the EEA after the end of transitional period, will now be considering their regulatory reporting requirements. Depending on the type of funds managed and the size of assets under management, AIFMs will be required to report quarterly, half-yearly or yearly. AIFMs that were authorized or that registered under a private placement regime in an EEA state in the third quarter of 2014 will need to complete the report for the last quarter of 2014. For many non-EEA fund managers marketing in one or more EEA states, an initial report will be due by 1 February 2015.

This Alert is a brief on the regulatory reporting obligation. This Alert also includes (as Annex 2) a comparison of the key reporting fields with their equivalents in the SEC's Form PF.

Recent advice from FCA

The UK Financial Conduct Authority ("FCA") recently published advice on the reporting obligation. In particular, the FCA clarified the reporting obligations of non-EEA AIFMs that market their funds in the UK in a number of important respects:

  • A non-EEA AIFM that markets a feeder fund (that invests in a non-EEA master fund that is managed by the same AIFM and that is not marketed in the UK) is only required to report in respect of the feeder fund, not the master fund. (By contrast, a UK AIFM is required to report in respect of both the feeder and the master.)
  • In terms of frequency of reporting, a non-EEA AIFM must determine whether its total fund assets under management ("total AuM") exceed €1 billion. The reference value for this purpose is total AuM of all funds that the AIFM is marketing in the EEA (not total AuM of all funds managed).

Other EU regulators may not take the same approach as the approach taken by the FCA in respect of each of these points. Any non-EEA AIFM that is marketing in any state other than the UK will need to check the position in that state.

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