UCITS Directive

FCA Publishes Findings of Its Multi-Firm Review into MiFID II Costs and Charges Disclosures

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The FCA has published a new webpage setting out the key findings of its multi-firm supervisory review of MiFID II costs and charges disclosure.

The review examined disclosures on firms’ websites and their communications to retail clients. The review involved a sample of 50 firms, identified from a number of MiFID investment firms operating in the retail investments sector, whose costs and charges disclosures did not appear to fully comply with the disclosure requirements introduced under the MiFID II Directive (2014/65/EU).

The review’s findings suggest that whilst improving over 2018, overall, the industry has been slow to comply with the updated costs and disclosure requirements.

The webpage includes sections on:

  • Information on the interaction between the costs and charges disclosure requirements in the MiFID II Directive, the PRIIPs Regulation ((EU) 1286/2014) and the UCITS Directive (2009/65/EC).
  • Areas of improvement, detailing examples of practices the FCA expects firms to address.
  • Examples of good practice, detailing examples of compliance that go beyond the requirements for transparency of costs and charges.
  • Suggested next steps for firms to take.

European Parliament to Consider Proposed Regulation and Directive on Cross-Border Distribution of Collective Investment Funds

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On January 24, the European Parliament updated the following procedure files:

  • The procedure file for the proposal for a Directive on the cross-border distribution of collective investment funds (2018/0041(COD)).
  • The procedure file for the proposal for a Regulation on facilitating cross-border distribution of collective investment funds (2018/0045(COD)).

The updated procedure files specify that the Parliament may consider the proposals at its plenary session between April 15-18.

The Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee (“ECON“) voted to adopt draft reports on the proposals on December 4, 2018. It subsequently published the reports on December 7, 2018.

The proposed Regulation envisages a harmonized framework regarding features of the cross-border distribution of funds, in respect of marketing communications and member states’ marketing requirements. The proposed Directive contains alterations to the UCITS Directive (2009/65/EC) and the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (2011/61/EU) (“AIFMD“) relating to pre-marketing and the discontinuation of marketing among other things.

The procedures files can be found here and here. The UCITS Directive can found here and the AIFMD can be found here.