Articles Tagged with AIFMD

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Sam Pearse, a corporate and securities Partner from our London office and member of Pillsbury’s Investment Funds Group, will be visiting Pillsbury’s San Francisco office on April 3 and 4.

Sam has extensive experience advising asset managers on strategies regarding fund formation and fundraising in the UK and across the EU.  In particular, he has advised many US asset managers on how to navigate the complex fundraising regime within the European Union following the implementation of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive, and the related investor and regulator disclosures.  As a member of Pillsbury’s Brexit team, Sam also has a good understanding of the likely landscape for asset managers in a post-Brexit world.

Sam also advises asset managers and investment advisors on the acquisition and divestment of assets, and the exercise of rights held by shareholders in UK listed companies.

If you would like to meet or speak with Sam whilst he is in San Francisco regarding your questions or concerns regarding any of the matters described above, please contact him at samuel.pearse@pillsburylaw.com.

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At the end of this month, the annual updating amendments for investment advisers’ Form ADV will be due. The following are some of the important annual compliance obligations investment advisers either registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) or with a particular state (“Investment Adviser”) and commodity pool operators (“CPOs”) or commodity trading advisors (“CTAs”) registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the “CFTC”) should be aware of.

This summary consists of the following segments: (i) List of Annual Compliance Deadlines; (ii) 2016 Enforcement Priorities In The Alternative Space; (iii) New Developments; and (iv) Continuing Compliance Areas.

See the deadlines below and in red

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In the summer the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published its advice and opinion on the proposal to extend the marketing passport to non-EU alternative investment fund managers (AIFM) and non-EU funds.  The passport would enable non-EU AIFMs to market their funds across the EU under the single AIFMD regime, rather than seeking investors using the individual countries’ national private placement regimes (NPPR).

As part of the review, ESMA assessed six countries’ regulatory regimes in the context of investor protection, market disruption, competition and monitoring systemic risk.  The outcome of the investigations was mixed.  Whilst Guernsey, Jersey and Switzerland were identified as jurisdictions to which the passport could be extended, it was not such good news for Hong Kong, Singapore and the United States.

For the US, ESMA identified obstacles to the extension.  Chief among these are the absence of remuneration rules for US investment managers and the “unlevel playing field” of the restrictions on EU funds to access US retail investors.  At present, in order for the passport to be extended to the US substantive changes would need to be made to US federal securities laws and regulations regarding the marketing of private funds in the US.  Whilst the SEC does focus on inadequate disclosures of fees, costs and expenses (see our posts here and here), it is highly unlikely that the legislative changes necessary to satisfy ESMA will be forthcoming in the near future.  Consequently US managers will need to continue accessing European investors either by way of the NPPR or reverse solicitation for the foreseeable future.  Each of those approaches continue to bring their own challenges, especially in the absence of guidance regarding the reverse solicitation exemption.

And what of the Cayman Islands?  As you may have noted from the list above, the Cayman Islands was not included as part of ESMA’s first assessments.  This a further blow to US investment managers and the inclusion of the territory on ESMA’s list of relevant jurisdictions will offer little comfort given the time required to conduct an assessment.

All in all, not a great deal has changed for the US firms.

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Annual Compliance Obligations—What You Need To Know

As the new year is upon us, there are some important annual compliance obligations Investment Advisers either registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) or with a particular state (“Investment Adviser”) and Commodity Pool Operators (“CPOs”) or Commodity Trading Advisors (“CTAs”) registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the “CFTC”) should be aware of.

See upcoming deadlines below and in red throughout this document.

The following is a summary of the primary annual or periodic compliance-related obligations that may apply to Investment Advisers, CPOs and CTAs (collectively, “Managers”).  The summary is not intended to be a comprehensive review of an Investment Adviser’s securities, tax, partnership, corporate or other annual requirements, nor an exhaustive list of all of the obligations of an Investment Adviser under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended (the “Advisers Act”) or applicable state law.  Although many of the obligations set forth below apply only to SEC-registered Investment Advisers, state-registered Investment Advisers may be subject to similar and/or additional obligations depending on the state in which they are registered.  State-registered Investment Advisers should contact us for additional information regarding their specific obligations under state law.

List of annual compliance deadlines:

State registered advisers pay IARD fee November-December (of 2014)
Form 13F (for 12/31/14 quarter-end) February 17, 2015*
Form 13H annual filing February 17, 2015
Schedule 13G annual amendment February 17, 2015
Registered CTA Form PR (for December 31, 2014 year-end) February 17, 2015
TIC Form SLT January 23, 2015 (for December 2014)
TIC Form SHCA March 6, 2015
TIC B Forms Monthly report (December 2014) – by January 15, 2014Quarterly report (December 31, 2014) – by January 20, 2014
Affirm CPO exemption March 2, 2015
Registered Large CPO Form CPO-PQR December 31 quarter-end report March 2, 2015
Registered CPOs filing Form PF in lieu of Form CPO-PQR December 31 quarter-end report March 31, 2015
Registered Mid-Size and Small CPO Form CPO-PQR year-end report March 31, 2015
SEC registered advisers and ERAs pay IARD fee Before submission of Form ADV annual amendment by March 31, 2015
Annual ADV update March 31, 2015
Delivery of Brochure April 30, 2015
Delivery of audited financial statements (for December 31, 2014 year-end) April 30, 2015
California Finance Lender License annual report (for December 31, 2014 year- end) March 15, 2015
Form PF filers pay IARD fee Before submission of Form PF
Form PF for large liquidity fund advisers (for December 31, 2014 quarter end) January 15, 2015
Form PF for large hedge fund advisers (for December 31, 2014 quarter end) March 2, 2015
Form PF  for smaller private fund advisers and large private equity fund advisers (for December 31, 2014 fiscal year-end) April 30, 2015
FBAR Form FinCEN Report 114 (for persons meeting the filing threshold in 2014 and those persons whose filing due date for reporting was previously extended by Notices 2013-1, 2012-2, 2012-1, 2011-2 and 2011-1) June 30, 2015
FATCA information reports filing for 2014 by participating FFIs March 31, 2015
Form D annual amendment One year anniversary from last amendment filing.

* Reflects an extended due date under Exchange Act Rule 0-3.  If the due date of filing falls on a Saturday, Sunday or holiday, a report is considered timely filed if it is filed on the first business day following the due date.

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