The UCITS V Directive was published in the European Union’s Official Journal on 28 August 2014.
The Directive addresses three main areas: (i) the duties, delegation, eligibility and liability of the depositary (bringing the UCITS framework in synch with the certain aspects of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive); (ii) remuneration policies and practices of senior management, risk takers and control functions; and (iii) the harmonisation of the sanctions regime across the EU, and the strengthening of cooperation to improve the effective detection of breaches of regulatory requirements (including whistle-blowing).
The Directive will enter into force 20 days after its publication and Malta will then have until 18 March 2016 to implement its dispositions into national law.
The MFSA has recently announced that it will be initiating the implementation process of the Directive as soon as this is published in the Official Journal. The Directive will be mainly transposed by way of changes to the Investment Services Rules following industry-wide consultation.
