01 October 2008

CESR consults on advice on UCITS Management Company Passport

CESR is holding a short consultation on its advice to the European Commission on the UCITS Management Company Passport. The consultation period is two weeks only.

The European Commission requested CESR’s technical advice on the conditions that are needed to ensure that a management company passport is consistent with the principle that investors in funds that are managed on a cross-border basis should not be exposed to additional legal and operational risks, or lower standards of supervision than investors in domestically managed UCITS.

Areas covered by the advice:

• the elements to be used to distinguish the home Member State of the management company, the depositary and the UCITS;
• the allocation of regulatory responsibilities between the competent authorities responsible for all relevant entities;
• the procedure for checking that the qualifications of the management company are commensurate with the demands/risks embedded in the investment policy of the UCITS, and the circumstances under which the passport could be refused;
• the conditions needed to ensure that the respective competent authorities have sufficient means and information to discharge their duties effectively; the obligations incumbent on the management company vis-à-vis the UCITS and the depositary (and vice versa), and the mechanisms and procedures to ensure the timely and effective exchange of information between the UCITS and the management company competent authorities;
• the conditions under which effective enforcement actions can be undertaken.

CESR will hold an open hearing on 13 October 2008 in Paris.

Deadline for responses is 15 October 2008.

Consultation paper

© CESR - Committee of European Securities Regulators