Notified AIFs – Malta’s New Fund Regime

This update summarises Malta’s proposed new Notified AIFs regime and provides a comparison with Irish and Luxembourgish alternatives. The new regime will, as with the proposed Luxembourg RAIF, provide a quicker time to market for new European funds. The route is available to managers who qualify as full scope EEA AIFMs (within the meaning of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (2011/61/EU) (“AIFMs” and “AIFMD” respectively)).

Under the new regime, the AIFM will make a notice filing with the Malta Financial Services Authority (“MFSA”) in accordance with the relevant rules. Rather than there being separate regulation of both the fund and the AIFM, the MFSA will rely on the regulated status of the AIFM to ensure compliance with applicable law and regulations and appropriate standards of conduct by the fund.

The framework of the new regime is set out in a notice entitled “Framework Applicable to the Notification of AIFs” (the “Framework Document”). The MFSA intends to issue new regulations under the Investment Services Act 1994 (the “Act”) and updated Investment Services Rules for Investment Services Licence Holders which qualify as AIFMs (the “Rules”) during the second quarter of 2016. The MFSA anticipates receiving requests to include AIFs on the List of Notified AIFs from June 2016.

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