AIMA APAC Webinar: AIFMD Review and Its Impact on APAC Managers

The European Commission published last week a proposal to amend the AIFMD and UCITS directives. There are a number of provisions that will impact third country managers that either market or manage funds in the EU or that are sub-delegates for EU AIFMs (access to member summary here).

The proposal changes the rules for private placement by introducing additional requirements on the domiciles of the funds or managers that place funds in EU member states. It is noteworthy that proposed amendments to the rules for third country funds marketed in the EU via private placements will require them not to be domiciled in a country listed on either the EU list on non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes or the EU “high-risk” third country AML blacklist.

The Cayman Islands was until October 2020 on the Annex 1 tax haven blacklist. In October 2021, while Australia was removed, Hong Kong became a new addition to the Annex II tax haven grey list as, following review, its foreign source tax rules have been found non-compliant. Singapore’s rules are also under review and it too could be added to Annex II if there are defects to address.

Additionally, the proposed rules will result in additional scrutiny on managers delegating outside the EU.

The panel will discuss the key potential ramifications for private fund managers in the APAC region.