Changes To The Rules Applicable To Depositary Lite Licence Holders

On Monday 6th October 2014, the MFSA published a revised version of Investment Services Rules for Investment Services Providers applicable to entities licensed under the Depositary Lite regime.

The Circular provides a comparison of the previous and revised versions of the SLCs, along with an explanatory note of each revision, describing the rationale behind the application of the AIFM Directive provisions.

The amendments clarify that an entity licensed as a depositary lite for EU AIFS would not be subject to the strict liability clauses unless the said entity holds in custody financial instruments in accordance with the AIFMD. In the latter case, the strict liability provisions would apply to depositary lite entities with respect to such instruments.