The Regulatory Regime for Exchange-Traded Funds in the European Union

Abstract:     
Exchange trading funds are treated in at least three different manners in Europe: as listed securities, as UCITS (or: classic investment funds) and in the future as Alternative Investment Funds. The latter qualification will become essential within two years once the directive on Alternative Investment Fund Managers (or: AIFMD) has come into force. ETFs that do not qualify as UCITS will be considered AIFs, and as a consequence their asset managers will have to be authorised according to this directive. However, the directive leaves very wide freedom to the manager’s investment policies, and therefore the AIF regime may be well suited for ETFs that do not meet the strict requirements of the UCITS directive.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 8

Keywords: Exchange traded funds, ETF regulation, trackers, alternative investment funds, AIFMD, UCITS

JEL Classification: K22

working papers series