The New AIFM Directive Draft - A Return To Common Sense?

On 12 November 2009, the Swedish Presidency of the EU Council issued a proposal for an amended draft of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive.

The new draft proposes a comprehensive revamp of the text of the directive, with substantial changes in many key areas where the original draft drew significant criticism, including scope, interaction with other directives (such as MiFID), prudential requirements, depositaries, valuation, delegation, leverage, transparency, Community and third-country marketing and management, and supervision. Many of the changes are likely to be welcomed by the industry. However, the draft still fudges many important issues and also contains new, previously unanticipated provisions on remuneration of AIFM, which the industry has already started to lobby against.