Cross Border Fund Distribution (CBFD)

Entry into force

2 August 2019

What is the Directive on CBFD (Cross Border Fund Distribution) ?

Regulation (EU) 2019/1156 on facilitating cross-border distribution of collective investment funds. It updates the current Regulations (EU) No 345/2013 and (EU) No 346/2013 on EuVECA (venture capital funds) and EuSEF (European Social Entrepreneurship Funds) Regulations (draft Regulation).

As part of the implementation of the Capital Market Union (CMU), the EC (European Commission) published a regulatory initiative on Cross-border fund distribution. 

In this legislative package, the EC amends:

• AIFM¹ and UCITS² Directives (draft Directive).

• Funds Regulations including EuVECA and EuSEF.

EC's aim is to reduce regulatory obstacles to cross-border distribution of investment funds, notably by:

• Improving transparency with regard to the legal and administrative requirements (notification, marketing material, local support to investors, etc.) requested by the European Union and Member States in this area as well as fees charged by national authorities.

• Guaranteeing more consistency in the method of calculation of these costs.

• Proposing a harmonized definition of pre-marketing.

• Specifying the administrative requirements called “facilities” imposed by some national authorities.

The EC expects from these measures a simplification of the procedures for the distribution of funds as well as a reduction of induced costs, and correlatively an increase in the cross-border distribution of the latter.

Scope

• Requirements as regards marketing by asset managers (Regulation).
• Increased transparency for information on national marketing requirements and fees from NCA (National Credit Act Regulation).
• Alignment of procedures and conditions for the de-notification of UCITS and AIF³ funds from national markets (Directive).
• Changes in relation to local facilities for UCITS and AIFs sold to retail investors: Removing the requirement for physical presence; The choice of how facilities to support local investors are provided (local presence or electronically) is to be left with the asset manager (Directive).  
• Amendments related to PRIIPs⁴: PRIIPS review delayed by one year to December 2019 and 2-year extension of the UCITS exemption from PRIIPs until December 2021 (Directive).
• Creation of an ESMA⁵ Central database of all managers, AIFS and UCITS marketed in other EU countries (Regulation & Directive)
• Introduction of pre-marketing for AIFs, EuVECA and EuSEF (Regulation & Directive)

¹ AIFM: Alternative Investment Fund Manager
² UCITS: Undertakings for Collective Investments in Transferable Securities
³ AIF: Alternative Investment Funds
⁴ PRIIPS:  Packaged retail investment and insurance-based products
⁵ ESMA: European Securities and Markets Authority