Regulatory Insights - July 2024

The following legislation has been published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 19 June 2024:

• the Regulation on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing ( (EU) 2024/1624) (AML Regulation);
• the Regulation establishing the Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA) ( (EU) 2024/1620) (AMLA Regulation); and
• the Sixth Money Laundering Directive ( (EU) 2024/1640) (MLD6).

The legislative package will come into force on 9 July 2024.

For more information on the above please refer to our regulatory insights of April 2024.

On 26 June 2024, EBA issued a press release welcoming the entry into force of the new EU Anti-Money Laundering (AML) framework. Based on the AMLA Regulation EBA will transfer its AML/CFT mandates, powers and resources to the new AML/CFT authority (AMLA) by the end of 2025.The EBA will continue collaborating closely with AMLA during this period. During the transition phase, the EBA will assist Member State competent authorities in preparing for AMLA and will coordinate the EU Commission's AMLA taskforce. EBA relevant publication on its contribution to the new AML/CFT regime can be found here.

Over the course of 2024 and in 2025, the EBA's AML/CFT priorities will include:

• developing a methodology for selecting financial institutions for direct EUlevel AML/CFT supervision
• creating a common risk assessment methodology
• defining the necessary information for carrying out customer due diligence
• establishing criteria to determine the seriousness of breaches of AML/CFT provisions.

CySEC on 20 June 2024 published circular C467 to inform the Regulated Entities that section « Terrorism Financing (TF)/Proliferation Financing (PF)» has been added to CySEC's website. This includes useful information and publications on TF/PF, as well as relevant notifications.

CySEC urges the Regulated Entities to continuously monitor, inter alia, the section «Terrorism Financing (TF)/Proliferation Financing (PF)» on CySEC's website, including the notifications to be sent for useful information and publications on TF/PF, through the RSS Service, ensuring their full compliance with their relevant legal obligations for preventing TF and PF.

 EFAMA has published on 25 June 2024 its International Quarterly Statistics for Q1 2024.

The global investment fund market saw positive growth in Q1 2024, with net assets increasing by 2.9% in euro terms, reaching EUR 69 trillion. In US dollar terms, this represented a 0.7% rise to USD 75 trillion. The United States and Europe, the two largest fund markets, experienced local currency net asset increases of 6% and 4.5%, respectively.

Key highlights include:

1.Long-term Funds:

• Net inflows: EUR 497 billion, up from EUR 312 billion in Q4 2023.
• Highest net inflows were in the United States (EUR 222 billion), followed by Asia-Pacific (EUR 149 billion) and Europe (EUR 87 billion).

2. Equity Funds:

• Net inflows: EUR 193 billion, compared to EUR 173 billion in Q4 2023.
• Highest net sales: United States (EUR 84 billion), China (EUR 44 billion), and Japan (EUR 38 billion).
• Europe saw a turnaround with EUR 4 billion in net inflows from EUR 6 billion in net outflows in Q4 2023.

3. Bond Funds:

• Net inflows: EUR 340 billion, significantly higher than EUR 137 billion in the previous quarter.
• Highest net sales: United States (EUR 170 billion) and Europe (EUR 95 billion).

4. Multi-Asset Funds:

• Continued net outflows: EUR 76 billion, slightly up from EUR 72 billion in Q4 2023.
• Largest outflows: China (EUR 31 billion) and United States (EUR 29 billion).

5. Money Market Funds (MMFs):

• Net inflows: EUR 256 billion, down from EUR 333 billion in Q4 2023.
• China's MMFs saw a significant rebound with EUR 155 billion in net inflows compared to EUR 15 billion net outflows in Q4 2023.
• United States MMFs: EUR 53 billion in net inflows, down from EUR 221 billion in Q4 2023.
• Europe MMFs: EUR 21 billion in net inflows, down from EUR 121 billion in Q4 2023.

Overall, the investment fund market demonstrated strong performance in Q1 2024, with substantial net inflows across various fund types and regions, despite some areas experiencing outflows.

 The EU Council has announced on 12 June 2024 that it has agreed its negotiating position on the retail investment package consisting of the proposed Directive on retail investment protection (referred to as an "Omnibus Directive") and the proposed Regulation amending the PRIIPs Regulation (1286/2014, the "Regulation").

The retail investment package aims to support individual consumers who wish to invest on the EU's capital markets, by better protecting their investments, providing them with clearer information about investment products and ensuring more transparency and disclosure.

The main changes proposed by the EU Council relate to inducements and value for money. In particular, the EU Council has decided to remove the proposed ban on inducements received for execution-only sales, while strengthening accompanying safeguards. It has also introduced a new concept of "value for money".

The EU Council agrees that ESMA and EIOPA should develop EU supervisory benchmarks to help national supervisors identify investment products that fail to offer value for money. The legal texts (dated 7 June 2024) of the EU Council's negotiating mandate on the proposed Omnibus Directive and the proposed Regulation have also been published.