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Matheson Update: Central Bank of Ireland Publishes UCITS Regulations
On 5 October 2015, the Central Bank of Ireland (the “Central Bank”) published new regulations
setting out the Central Bank requirements applicable to undertakings for collective investment in
transferable securities (“UCITS”). The Central Bank (Supervision and Enforcement) Act 2013 (Section
48(1)) (Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities) Regulations 2015 (the “CB
UCITS Regulations”) supplement existing legislative requirements (in particular, the European
Communities (Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities) Regulations 2011)
and, together with guidance published on the Central Bank website and the UCITS Q&A, replace the
rules and guidance previously set out in the Central Bank’s UCITS Notices and Guidance Notes. The
publication of the CB UCITS Regulations follows a consultation issued by the Central Bank in January
2014 and is accompanied by a feedback statement summarising the responses received.
Background
Following the introduction of the AIF Rulebook as part of the implementation of the Alternative
Investment Fund Managers Directive (“AIFMD”), the Central Bank indicated that it would adopt a
similar approach in respect of UCITS and would consolidate into one document all of the conditions
which the Central Bank imposes on UCITS, their management companies and depositaries. The
Central Bank consulted on this proposal in its “Consultation on Publication of UCITS Rulebook”
(CP77) which outlined the Central Bank’s approach, included a draft of the new proposed UCITS
Rulebook, and raised specific queries in relation to proposals regarding the promoter regime, Central
Bank approval of regulated markets and semi-annual reporting for UCITS management companies.
The Central Bank has decided to publish the requirements applicable to UCITS in the form of a
statutory instrument rather than a “UCITS Rulebook” under relatively new regulation-making powers
conferred on the Central Bank by the Central Bank Supervision and Enforcement Act 2013. This new
procedure has been adopted for implementation of regulation in other financial sectors and the Central
Bank has indicated that using regulations is its preferred approach, as it is intended to assist fund
providers by bringing additional clarity and certainty to the rules applied by the Central Bank. The
Central Bank has indicated that it will shortly commence a review of the Central Bank’s AIF Rulebook
to see whether it should also be issued as Central Bank regulations.
Amendments to Central Bank Conditions
The CB UCITS Regulations introduce a number of amendments to the conditions previously set out in
the UCITS Notices. The key changes are as follows:
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Codification of Existing Derogations
One of the most significant changes effected by the CB UCITS Regulations is the codification of any
derogations previously granted by the Central Bank in relation to individual requirements. The Central
Bank believes that its review process has allowed it to identify any such derogations and to ensure
that they are included. If a particular derogation has not been included in the CB UCITS Regulations,
the relevant UCITS will need to re-apply for such derogation. The Central Bank has emphasised on a
number of occasions that it retains the authority to grant derogations from the provisions of the CB
UCITS Regulations.
While the Central Bank has endeavoured to ensure that all existing derogations are provided for in the
CB UCITS Regulations, each UCITS will now need to consider its current offering documents and
operating procedures, together with its authorisation file, in order to determine whether any
derogations were obtained which are not provided for in the CB UCITS Regulations and to re-apply for
such derogation if necessary. Matheson are of course happy to assist our clients with this analysis
and any such applications.
Removal of Promoter Approval Requirement
Following the approach adopted in respect of alternative investment funds in the AIF Rulebook, the
requirement for UCITS to have approved promoters has been removed. The Central Bank will instead
place reliance on the regulatory regimes for UCITS management companies and it has elaborated on
the obligations of directors in circumstances where a UCITS gets into difficulties. This is a welcome
development and follows the approach adopted by the Central Bank in implementing the AIFMD.
Guidance on Regulated Markets
The Central Bank has withdrawn Guidance Note 1/96, which set out its approach to the determination
of whether a market met the criteria for “regulated markets” upon which transferable securities or
financial derivative instruments must be listed or traded in order to be an eligible investment for a
UCITS. This withdrawal is on the basis that there is a degree of overlap between that guidance note
and the UCITS eligible assets directive. The Central Bank will no longer review submissions on
proposed regulated markets and will no longer publish a list of permitted markets for UCITS. It will
therefore be for the UCITS to determine whether a particular market meets the relevant criteria set out
in the CB UCITS Regulations, which may provide additional flexibility to UCITS.
Financial Reporting Requirements
The Central Bank has extended the financial reporting requirements by requiring UCITS management
companies and depositaries to submit half-yearly management accounts covering the second six
months of the financial year (in addition to the requirement to submit half yearly management
accounts covering the first six months of the financial year, as applied to date). The Central Bank is of
the view that this change will provide it with more complete and timely information, allowing it to
compare and analyse reports from the first six months of the year with the second six months and
providing more timely key risk indicators and alerts on PRISM, the Central Bank’s risk-based
framework for the supervision of regulated firms.
Collateral Diversification
The CB UCITS Regulations contain provisions which reflect the outcome of the Central Bank’s July
2014 consultation on the adoption of the European Securities and Markets Authority (“ESMA”) revised
guidelines on ETFs and other UCITS issues (“CP84”). ESMA’s revised guidelines provide for a
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derogation from the collateral diversification requirement where collateral consists of securities issued
or guaranteed by a member state, one or more of its local authorities, a third country or public
international body to which one or more member states belong. The derogation applies to all UCITS,
subject to additional disclosure requirements applicable to the prospectus and periodic reports of
UCITS who avail of the derogation.
The CB UCITS Regulations include provisions designed to mitigate the risks the Central Bank
perceives in applying the derogation to all UCITS and builds upon the existing obligation on UCITS
management companies to perform a credit assessment set out in the European Communities
(Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities) Regulations 2011 by identifying a
specific credit quality threshold.
The CB UCITS Regulations provide that collateral received should be of “high quality”. In assessing
whether collateral is of high quality, the UCITS management company must ensure that, where the
issuer was subject to a credit rating by an agency registered and supervised by ESMA, that rating
must be taken into account. Where an issuer is downgraded below the two highest short-term credit
ratings by the credit rating agency, the management company must conduct a new credit assessment
of the issuer without delay. This revised rule is based on the formulation set out in ESMA’s opinion on
the review of the ESMA guidelines on a common definition of money market funds, meaning that the
threshold applied by a UCITS in its credit assessment of collateral issuers is the standard which
applies to investments by a UCITS MMF.
Further guidance in relation to the matters which should be taken into consideration in a credit
assessment process and also practice which should be followed when there is a deterioration in credit
quality have been incorporated in the UCITS guidance published on the Central Bank’s website.
US OTC Derivative Counterparties
The UCITS Notices set out a list of entities which are eligible to act as counterparties to a UCITS in
OTC derivative trades. This list includes credit institutions and MiFID firms and goes on to capture
any US entities by referring to an entity subject to regulation as a Consolidated Supervised Entity
(“CSE”) by the Securities and Exchange Commission in the US. However, due to changes in the US
regulatory framework, the CSE test has become inapplicable to broker-dealers in the US.
Accordingly, during the consultation period, industry engaged with the Central Bank to amend this list.
The CB UCITS Regulations refers, in addition to credit institutions and MiFID firms, to a group
company of an entity issued with a bank holding licence from the Federal Reserve, where that group
company is subject to consolidated supervision by the Federal Reserve.
The CB UCITS Regulations address the status of clearing houses, where central clearing is mandated
under the European Market Infrastructure Regulation (“EMIR”), by providing that, where an OTC
derivative is subject to novation, the counterparty after the novation must be one of the three entities
referred to in the preceding paragraph, a central counterparty authorised or recognised under EMIR
or, pending recognition by ESMA under EMIR, an entity classified by the SEC as a clearing agency or
by the Commodities Futures Trading Commission as a derivatives clearing organisation.
It is worth noting that the CB UCITS Regulations do not provide for a higher limit in respect of
counterparty exposure to a clearing house. In this regard, the Central Bank has stated in its feedback
statement on CP77 that ESMA has addressed this point in its Opinion 2015/ESMA/880 dated 22 May
2015 and considered that an amendment to the UCITS Directive may be required in order to raise the
relevant exposure limit.
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Investment in Indices through Financial Derivative Instruments
The Central Bank currently permits a UCITS to hold a financial derivative instrument (“FDI”) in respect
of a financial index comprised of eligible assets with concentration levels in excess of those permitted
under the UCITS Regulations, provided that, by applying a look-through approach, the consolidated
holdings held through the index, together with direct holdings, comply with the risk spreading
requirements of the UCITS Regulations. This position is amended by the CB UCITS Regulations so
that each individual underlying financial index will need to be assessed against UCITS concentration
limits.
Prospectus Requirements
The Central Bank has consolidated in the CB UCITS Regulations all of the rules relating to the
prospectus, which are now located together whereas in the UCITS Notices these rules were located
across a number of different Notices. One change introduced is a new requirement that where a
UCITS proposes to take short positions, it must disclose in its prospectus, in relation to each of the
categories of assets in which it may invest, whether it will take long or short positions or both. It must
also disclose the percentage of its assets which it anticipates will be invested in long positions and
short positions. This disclosure requirement is more detailed than was previously the case and it will
remain to be seen how investment managers will be required to address this level of detail in fund
documents.
Reporting of Non-Material Breaches
The CB UCITS Regulations introduce a new requirement for depositaries to report to the Central Bank
non-material breaches which remain unresolved for four weeks, on the basis that this is a reasonable
period within which to resolve any breach and it would be concerned to be aware of instances where
this is not the case. The Central Bank will keep the operation of this rule under review to ensure that it
is workable and proportionate.
Next Steps and Transitional Provisions
The CB UCITS Regulations will apply from 1 November 2015. There are transitional provisions in
respect of certain requirements dealing with redemption gates so that those requirements will not
apply until 2 November 2016. The prospectus disclosures required where a UCITS enters into short
positions as part of its investment policy should be included in the prospectus when it is next updated.
Comment
The consolidation of the Central Bank requirements applicable to UCITS into a single document is a
practical and welcome development, together with the removal of the promoter approval requirement
and the clarification relating to US OTC counterparties. UCITS managers will need to consider
whether they need to apply for permission to retain existing derogations and to ensure that the current
prospectus disclosures, some of which may be in place for an extended period, meet the updated
disclosure requirements. As part of our continuing engagement with the Central Bank through
industry and directly on behalf of our clients, we will seek further clarity on the timeline for filings, if
any, required as a result of this analysis. We are happy to share relevant feedback with clients as it is
made available.
If you would like any further information on the CB UCITS Regulations please contact your usual
Asset Management Group contact or any of the contacts listed in this publication.
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The CB UCITS Regulations, UCITS guidance, updated UCITS Q&A and CP77 Feedback Statement
may be accessed at the following links: CB UCITS Regulations, UCITS guidance, UCITS Q&A and
CP77 feedback statement.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Full details of the Asset Management and Investment Funds Group, together with further updates,
articles and briefing notes written by members of the Asset Management and Investment Funds team,
can be accessed at www.matheson.com.
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