The European Commission’s banking package is meant to transpose the latest Basel agreements into EU law as well as providing new rules on third country branches. The Council had already agreed a negotiating position in 2022. After months of negotiations the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Committee (ECON) has taken a major hurdle in the legislative process by voting its own negotiating mandate. From a Luxembourg perspective the provision of financial services from outside of the EU as well as the treatment and supervision of third country branches is of particular interest. ABBL will actively follow how the wording of these requirements will evolve.
The same day the ECON committee also voted its negotiating mandate on the review of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD). From a Luxembourg banking perspective, the depositary aspects are most relevant. Among the latter features in particular a proposal by the rapporteur to introduce a depositary passport. The latter project has nevertheless been abandoned. What is left is a proposal from the European Commission to allow Member States with a strictly defined lack of depositary offer to request the use of a depositary in another Member State. The aim is to solve a well-known issue of Malta and Cyprus that had until recently benefited from an exemption from the rule that the depositary needs to be located in the same Member State as the investment fund.
For both the banking package and for the AIFMD trialogue negotiations between the main European institutions are expected to start in the weeks to come. A result is generally expected in the first half of the year.
ABBL Contact: Antoine Kremer, Head of European Affairs ABBL, ALFI & ACA