Brussels, 23/03/2007 (Agence Europe) - After explaining, at the beginning of the week, the eligibility criteria for certain financial instruments for retail investment funds (UCITS) (EUROPE 9389), the Commission launched a public consultation that will end on 15 June 2007. This is aimed at market actors and national regulators involved in reforming the European regulatory framework for UCITS (directive 85/611/EEC amended by directives 2001/107/EC and 2001/108/EC). On 26 April the Commission is organising a public hearing on this theme and will present its legislative proposal at the end of the year.
In its consultation paper, the Commission presents its orientations on the following elements: how to facilitate cross-border marketing of funds (notification procedure); supporting fund mergers and asset pooling; simplifying and improving information to investors about costs, risks and potential dividends of financial products (simplified prospectus) and strengthening supervisory cooperation mechanisms. These changes to the directive were announced in the Commission White Paper of last November (EUROPE 9308). (mb)
Charlie McCreevy, the European Commissioner for the internal market, declared in a press release that “the industry is faced with massive structural challenges - fragmentation, complex distribution channels, competition from new investment products. The current directive provides no answer to these challenges. That is why I have pushed hard to strengthen the Single Market framework for funds”. (mb)