Governance – Global Investment Law Watch

Europe: European Commission Delays “Non-Essential” Level 2 Measures Concerning AIFMD II and the UCITS Review

Oct 08 2025

By: Gayle Bowen, Shane Geraghty, Mathieu Volckrick, and Dr. Philipp Riedl

In a letter dated 1 October 2025, the European Commission has announced that it will not adopt any non-essential Level 2 acts in respect of AIFMD II or the UCITS review, before 1 October 2027 at the earliest. The list of “non-essential” measures now postponed includes technical standards (i) for loan-originating funds to maintain open-ended features and (ii) on information exchange between national regulators and EU institutions.

It is further reported that the Commission has considered amending, or even repealing, certain acts via an Omnibus package dedicated towards Level 2 measures.

The European Securities and Markets Authority was due to deliver the final draft measures on open-ended loan-originating funds to the Commission this month following their earlier consultation on this topic. It is unclear whether this will now happen.

The Commission letter comes as EU Member States are preparing for AIFMD II implementation.

In Ireland, the Department of Finance issued a Feedback Statement exercising a number of discretionary provisions provided to Member States under the Level 1 Directive. The Central Bank has also commenced a consultation on a complete overhaul of the Irish private funds regime, proposing a copy-out approach to AIFMD and relaxing a number of its requirements, to align with other EU jurisdictions.

On 3 October, Luxembourg published its draft transposition legislation implementing the AIFMD/UCITS review into national law. According to an initial assessment, the Bill implements the provisions of the AIFMD review on a one-to-one basis, without gold plating and exercises several options provided to Member States under the Level 1 Directive.

Germany published its draft legislation implementing AIFMD/UCITS review on 9 July and has also adopted a copy out approach without any gold plating.

United States: The SEC “Flexes” Its (De)Regulatory Agenda

Sep 05 2025

By: Jennifer L. Klass, Lance C. Dial, and Pablo J. Man

The SEC’s latest regulatory agenda has officially been unveiled, and according to Chair Atkins the “regulatory agenda reflects that it is a new day” at the SEC. The regulatory agenda not only aims to clarify the regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies but also focuses on proposals to reduce compliance burdens and facilitate capital formation, including by providing investor access to private businesses.

United States: The White House Working Group on Digital Asset Markets Report: Establishing Clear Regulation Based on a Digital Assets Taxonomy

Aug 19 2025

By: Sarah V. Riddell and Vivian K. Bridges

The President’s Working Group on Digital Asset Markets Report (the Report) emphasizes that a clearly defined taxonomy is essential for establishing a regulated digital asset market and identifying the appropriate federal regulator (i.e., the SEC or CFTC) based on a digital asset’s functions.

Europe: UK Consultations on Reducing the Burden of the FCA Senior Managers Regime

Aug 04 2025

By: Zainab Kuku, Philip Morgan, and Andrew Massey

As part of the UK government’s strategy to boost the competitiveness of the UK financial services sector and support growth, the overall burdens of the Senior Managers & Certification Regime (SMCR) are to be reduced “by 50%”.

Australia: Full Federal Court Finds in Favour of ASIC Appeal Concerning the Scope of the “Authorised Representative” Exemption

Jun 11 2025

By: Kane Barnett and Isaac Gilmore

The Full Federal Court (the Court) has ruled in favour of the Australian Securities and Investments Commissions’ (ASIC) appeal as to whether BPS Financial Pty Ltd (BPS) could rely on the ‘authorised representative’ exemption in relation to issuing their ‘Qoin Wallet’ product (see our previous post for background). The authorised representative exemption is commonly relied upon and allows a person or entity to provide a financial service under the Corporations Act on behalf of the holder of an Australian financial services licence (AFS licence) without having to hold an AFS licence itself.

Europe: UK’s FCA Intensifies Scrutiny on Private Markets Valuations

Apr 07 2025

By: Daniel Greenaway and Flavio Picaro

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority has published the findings of its multi-firm review of valuation processes for private market assets. This review follows the highlighting of vulnerabilities in private markets stemming, in part, from opaque valuations, in both the Bank of England’s June 2024 Financial Stability Report and IOSCO’s September 2023 report on emerging risks in private finance markets.

Europe: UK’s FCA Seeks to Simplify Its Rules

Apr 02 2025

By: Laura Price and Kai Zhang

Acknowledging “longstanding concerns from firms about the length and complexity of [its] rules and guidance”, the UK’s FCA published a call for input in July 2024. It invited firms to comment on whether some FCA rules may be unnecessary following introduction of the outcomes-based Consumer Duty. It has now outlined its proposed approach in a Feedback Statement, explaining that its aims are to achieve more flexibility, more predictability, and improved efficiency. The approach includes:

Australia: APRA Proposes Reforms to Strengthen Governance Standards

Mar 21 2025

By: Jim Bulling, Simon Kiburg and Eddie Frost

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has proposed reforms to strengthen core prudential standards and guidance on governance, currently set out in SPS 510 Governance, SPS 520 Fit and Proper, and SPS 521 Conflicts of Interest.

Europe: National Regulators Announce Digital Operational Resilience Act Reporting Windows

Feb 26 2025

By: Shane Geraghty, Dr. Ulrike Elteste, and Ruth Hennessy

EU national supervisory authorities will collect the Register of Information (ROI) pursuant to the EU’s Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) from in scope financial entities in April 2025, with the reference date set as 31 March 2025. ROIs are reports by in-scope EU financial entities on all contractual arrangements on the use of information and communication technology (ICT) services provided by ICT third-party service providers. The financial entity must differentiate between providers who are not critical and providers who are considered critical and important.

Europe: ESMA and National Regulators Launch Coordinated Review of Fund Manager Compliance and Internal Audit Functions

Feb 24 2025

By: Shane Geraghty, Hazel Doyle, and Gayle Bowen

On 14 February 2025, the EU’s securities and markets regulator, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), launched a Common Supervisory Action (CSA) with EU Member State National Competent Authorities (NCAs), in relation to compliance and internal audit functions of UCITS management companies and Alternative Investment Fund Managers (AIFMs) across the EU.

Tag:Governance