ESMA announced today, 1 February 2019, that
the EU27 competent authorities have signed a co-operation agreement
with the UK's Financial Conduct Authority ("FCA").
This comes as a significant relief to the asset management
industry, as it should avoid a cliff edge scenario if the UK leaves
the European Union on 29 March 2019 without a withdrawal agreement
and no transitional period ("hard Brexit").
The news of the co-operation agreements being agreed are
significant, as under both the UCITS and AIFM directives, such an
agreement must exist between EU member states and third-country
regulators (which the UK's FCA will become upon a hard Brexit)
to enable managers from that third country manage funds in the
relevant EU member state.
