The Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) was
introduced in 2013. The aim of the Directive is to regulate the
provision of fund management services by fund managers to
alternative investment funds. As such, it also introduces rules on
the marketing of AIFs in the European Union. Malta, being a member
of the EU, has fully transposed and implemented the AIFMD which has
formed part of Maltese law for over three years.
The AIFMD limits the possibility for non-EU domiciled fund
managers to market the funds which they manage to professional
investors in the EU. The best scenario for a fund manager to
benefit from the passport provided by the Directive is to set up a
fund management firm (AIFM) in an EU member state and domicile the
fund (AIF) in the same or another EU member state. This would
provide the EU AIFM with a full passport and enable such manager to
market the AIF without any restriction to professional investor in
the EU. In some cases, an EU
