Negotiating and implementing the AIFMD : the Malta experience

Abstract

More than four years have passed since the Commission issued a proposal for an Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (‘AIFMD’), which formed part of the EU policy response to the financial crisis of 2007-2008. The world of EU securities regulation and supervision has changed considerably since then. The Lisbon Treaty came into force and changed the law-making process for delegated acts to be adopted by the Commission. The European Institutions implemented a significant revamp of the European regulatory framework by widening the scope of regulation and the extent of detail of substantive law applicable to securities markets. The European Securities and Markets Authority (‘ESMA’) became operative with strong powers to make regulation in the form of technical standards and with the tools to force supervisory convergence at national level. ESMA was also vested with a de facto pan-European supervisory role for credit rating agencies and trade repositories and has the function of coordinating colleges of supervisors for central counterparties.