On 23 July 2014, the Council of the European Union formally approved the proposal for a “Directive of the European Parliament and of the council of amending Directive 2009/65/EC (the UCITS IV Directive) on the coordination of laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to undertakings for collective investment in transferable securities as regards depositary functions, remuneration policies and sanctions”.
This amending directive is usually called the UCITS V Directive. The UCITS V Directive follows the ratio legis of the AIFM Directive increasing the protection of the investors towards the fund managers and the depositaries.
Adoption process
- On 3 July 2012 the EU Commission published a proposal to amend the UCITS IV Directive on several topics such as oversight obligations, depositary and remuneration.
- On 13 March 2014 the Council and the European Parliament reached a compromise on this proposal. The text was formally adopted by the European Parliament on 15 April 2014 and by the Council on 23 July 2014.
Next steps
- The UCITS V Directive will enter into force 20 days after its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union. This publication is expected for October or November 2014. Member states will need to implement the UCITS V Directive into their internal legislation within 18 months.
- The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) should publish Guidelines within this 18-month period.
- The European Commission will also adopt a Delegated Regulation (level II technical standards) in order to clarify and detail some dispositions of the Directive.
