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Funds can now get a “passport” under the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive, which allows them to be marketed across Europe. Fund managers had been led to believe that once they had this passport, they could operate across Europe as a single market. However, regulators in Germany, France, Austria and Latvia are planning to charge additional fees to managers seeking to market funds in those countries.
The Latvian regulator, the Financial and Capital Market Commission, would charge alternative investment fund managers €1,209 per year to be supervised while marketing their funds, according to a FCMC spokeswoman. The Austrian Financial Market Authority is planning to charge between €150 and €11,560 depending on what services the funds required, according to an FMA spokesman. Representatives from the Austrian, Latvian and French regulators said the fees were required to cover the cost of supervision.
George Anson, managing director of HarbourVest Partners and chairman of the European Private Equity and Venture Capital Association, said that it was a “disgrace and a clear contravention of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive”. The association has written to the European Commission to draw attention to the issue, while the Alternative Investment Management Association is also said to be drafting a letter.
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