On July 31, 2015, ESMA published a consultation paper on draft Regulatory Technical Standards for European Long-Term Investment Fund Regulation. An ELTIF is a new kind of fund vehicle which aims to contribute to financing the sustainable growth of the European Union's economy through targeting long-term investment. To achieve this aim, ELTIFs are subject to various rules concerning the types of assets in which they can invest. For example, an ELTIF should invest at least 70% of its capital in "eligible investment assets" (which are generally illiquid). ELTIFs are EU AIFs managed by authorized AIFMs and are therefore additionally subject to the AIFMD rules. The draft RTS aim to determine amongst other things: (i) the characteristics of the facilities made available to retail investors such as those for making subscriptions, payments to unit or shareholders, or repurchasing or redeeming units or shares; (ii) given that an ELTIF may not use financial derivative instruments except where it solely serves the purpose of hedging risks inherent to other investments of an ELTIF, the criteria for establishing the circumstances in which financial derivative instruments solely serve hedging purposes; and (iii) the circumstances in which the life of an ELTIF is considered to be sufficient in length. ELTIFs are expected to increase the volume of non-bank finance for companies investing in the European Union.
The consultation paper is available at: http://www.esma.europa.eu/content/Consultation-Paper-draft-regulatory-technical- standards-under-ELTIF-Regulation.
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