Cayman Welcomes ESMA Announcement

At a session of the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee at the European Parliament on 13 October 2015, Steven Maijoor, Chair of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), confirmed that ESMA will shortly commence an assessment of the Cayman Islands for its inclusion within the passport regime under the terms of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD). Cayman Finance welcomes this move by ESMA, and is encouraged that ESMA's assessment of the Cayman Islands – which in July ESMA noted is home to a significant proportion of non-EU investment funds being marketed within Europe – will commence shortly.

In his submission, Mr. Maijoor spoke about the functioning of the national private placement regimes (NPPRs) which are currently available to non-EU countries as well as ESMA's recent advice on whether to extend to 'third countries' the AIFMD passport, which is currently only available to EU countries.