Commission White Paper on UCITS

16 November 2006




The Commission published its White Paper on the modernisation of the EU framework for investment funds. Among others, the Paper proposes to simplify the notification procedure, creating a framework for the cross-border merger of funds, and to create a framework for asset pooling. The White Paper also proposes to review options for establishing a European 'private placement regime', allowing financial institutions to offer investment opportunities to qualified investors across the EU.

The Commission plans to amend the current directive in autumn 2007. Meanwhile the Commission will also look at whether there is a need to make similar changes for other fund products, especially real estate funds, that are not covered by the current EU framework.

In addition to the White Paper, the Commission made public a number of reports externally committed for the Commission on Asset management as well as an impact assessment and the feedback statement to the responses on the Expert Group Reports.

Press release
White paper
Impact Assessment (exec.sum); Impact assessment
FAQ
Feedback statement to the responses on the Expert Group Reports.

External studies
Potential cost savings in a fully integrated European investment fund market
This study presents a comparative analysis of the main sources of cost in the investment fund value-chain in 10 Member States. It assesses the potential for scale and efficiency savings.
Report; Member States Annex

Current trends in the European Asset Management Industry
Lot 1 of the study provides a comprehensive database with time series and up-to-date data on recent developments and the current situation in European fund markets.
Lot 2 documents some of the main structural trends which are transforming European fund markets – notably, moves towards more open distribution systems, greater functional specialisation, increased industry concentration, and the 'push' and 'pull' factors driving the growth of new products.
Lot 1; Lot 2

© European Commission