By: Áine Ní Riain and Lucy Deane
Under the EU PRIIPs Regulation “manufacturers” are required to prepare a key information document (KID) where relevant packaged retail investment products (including most funds) are made available to retail investors.
Read MoreBy: Clifford C. Histed, Kenneth Holston, Cheryl L. Isaac, and Matthew J. Rogers
Happy New Year! As we kick off 2024, we note that the National Futures Association (NFA) published its annual Notice to Members with guidance on the annual affirmation requirement for certain exempt commodity pool operators (CPOs) and commodity trading advisors (CTAs). If you rely on an exemption or exclusion from CPO registration under CFTC Regulation 4.13(a)(1), 4.13(a)(2), 4.13(a)(3), 4.13(a)(5) or 4.5, or an exemption from CTA registration under 4.14(a)(8), you must file an annual affirmation in the NFA’s Exemptions System by 29 February 2024, and a multi-factor authentication is now required for access. Failure to make this affirmation will result in your registration exemption being withdrawn on 1 March 2024.
In addition, the NFA also issued a Notice to Members regarding the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) final rule implementing the Corporate Transparency Act beneficial ownership information (BOI) reporting requirements. Although CFTC-registered entities (including CPOs and CTAs) are exempt from these requirements (see 31 U.S.C. §5336(a)(11)(B)(xiv)), certain pooled investment vehicles will be required to comply. Commodity pools that are operated or advised by an SEC-registered broker-dealer or investment adviser are generally exempt, but a limited number of other commodity pools will be subject to the new rule.
Accordingly, CPOs with non-exempt commodity pools will need to file BOI reports with FinCEN, including identifying information about individuals who directly or indirectly own or control the commodity pool. FinCEN recently extended the BOI reporting deadline for certain reporting companies, with the relevant compliance dates as follows:
For commodity pools created or registered after 1 January 2024, a CPO will also need to report information about the “company applicants,” meaning the individual or individuals who directly file the document that creates or registers the commodity pool.
Please feel free to contact the authors of this blog post with any questions.
By: Áine Ní Riain and Lucy Deane
On 14 December, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) issued a Public Statement updating its proposals for guidelines on funds’ names using ESG or sustainability-related terms, following its consultation on the same guidelines (ESMA34-472-373, the Guidelines) that ran from November 2022 to February 2023.
Read MoreThe FCA has published its final rules on the UK’s Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (SDR) regime. The key features include:
Read MoreBy: Áine Ní Riain and Gayle Bowen
Following their adoption and publication in draft form by the European Commission last June, two new EU Taxonomy delegated acts were published in the Official Journal on 21 November, and will apply from January 2024. They confirm new and amended technical screening criteria (TSCs) in relation to the environmental objectives in the Taxonomy Regulation. This is a significant build-out in the application of the Taxonomy Regulation given that for an economic activity to be taxonomy-aligned, it must:
Read MoreBy: Jim Bulling and Laura McFadzean
On 14 November 2023, the Australian Government released what is described as the first of three tranches of proposed draft legislation implementing the QAR recommendations.
While the government is still saying it intends to address the remaining recommendations of the QAR, there were no commitments given at this stage.
Read MoreBy: Edward Bennett and Ke Jia Lim
On 24 October 2023, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) issued a consultation paper on the repeal of the regulatory regime for Registered Fund Management Companies (RFMCs).
Read MoreBy: Matthew Watts and Rebecca Mangos
The Australia Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has released its second report on information lodged under the reportable situations regime for the period 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2023.
Read MoreBy: Yuki Sako
The Japanese government is currently considering (i) several amendments to the large shareholding reporting requirement, which is generally triggered when the position of a beneficial owner reaches 5% of outstanding shares, and (ii) a new mechanism to provide transparency around beneficial owners even when the 5% threshold is not reached. Notably, the stated purposes of these considerations include promoting engagement between companies and investors by removing obstacles for investors to effectively engage with companies and by making it easier for companies to identify beneficial owners.
Read MoreBy: Jim Bulling, Lisa Lautier and Ben Kneebush
On 23 October 2023, the Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB) released the long-awaited Exposure Draft outlining the Australian climate-related reporting standards.
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