FN: EU countries miss the UCITS boat

05 July 2011

Five of the big nine UCITS markets missed last week's deadline for implementing version four of the legislation. The delays could see them disadvantaged in the market and even sanctioned by the European Commission.

The latest analysis of the big nine markets on July 1 showed that only Germany, Luxemburg, Ireland and the UK had passed the Directive into national law. Belgium, France, Italy, Spain and Switzerland have yet to comply.

To become UCITS-compliant, a fund must comply with the local laws, regulations and other provisions relating to any of the host Member States. In turn, Member States must make available all legal provisions that relate to the marketing of foreign UCITS in their jurisdiction.

Jim Llanoo, press officer at Belgium's financial services regulatory authority the FSMA, said the legislative text is in place, and Belgium expects to have UCITS in law by the end of the year.

Jeremy Soutter, global head of products Aviva Investors, said: "For a lot of these domiciles, UCITS IV doesn’t really bring them any major benefits – they are the recipients rather than the promoters or domiciles where the funds are placed".

Full article (FN subscription needed)

© Financial News