ALTIUS Banking & Finance update April 2015
1. How has the AIFM Directive been implemented in Belgium?
The Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (2011/61/EC) (the “AIFMD”) has been implemented in Belgium through the Act of 19 April 2014 on alternative institutions for collective investment and their managers (“Wet betreffende de alternatieve instellingen voor collectieve belegging en hun beheerders” / “Loi relative aux organismes de placement collectif alternatifs et à leur gestionnaires”) (the “AIFM Act”). The AIFM Act was published in the Belgian State Gazette on 17 June 2014. The majority of the AIFM Act’s provisions entered into force on 27 June 2014.
Belgium was one of the last countries to implement the AIFMD. Despite the Q&A regarding the transitional period from the Belgian supervisory authority, the Financial Services and Markets Association (the “FSMA”), a lot of uncertainty surrounded the application of the AIFMD in Belgium before the AIFM Act finally entered into force. The AIFM Act and a short FSMA memorandum, dated 23 June 2014, on the entry force of the AIFMD Act (which included an update on the Q&A regarding the transitional period) have provide more certainty. But, unfortunately, not all the uncertainty has been clarified.