We would like to draw your attention to CySEC’s Circular C191 (“the Circular”) dated 01.03.17, regarding the Regulated Entities’ compliance with reporting and other obligations, through which CySEC informs the Regulated Entities that:
1.From the date of authorisation and / or taking up duties (where this is applicable, e.g. for companies with sole purpose the management of AIFLNPs), and not from the date that the Regulated Entities become operational, they are:
- subject to the relevant CySEC legislation and / or the relevant European Regulations;
- required to comply and meet all their obligations regarding the submission of reports and / or statements and / or information arising from CySEC legislation and relevant European Regulations;
- required to pay the annual fees / contributions towards CySEC.
2. Date of authorisation is the date when the Regulated Entity obtains its authorisation from CySEC or takes up duties (as the case may be), and has nothing to do with whether the Regulated Entity is operational or not (which, for the self-managed or externally managed AIF/AIFLNP/UCITS, could mean that it has not raised capital from investors, or, for the CIF, that it did not make use of its authorisation).
3. CySEC clarifies that, if a Regulated Entity has been authorised and / or has taken up duties as external manager for AIF/AIFLNP/UCITS, and during the same year it was not operational, reports for that year must be submitted to CySEC and annual fees / contributions (in proportion to the time-period holding the licence; shall be paid). Examples (not exhaustive) include:
- if an AIFM has taken up duties as external manager for an AIF in December 2016, it is obliged, among other, to submit to CySEC the AMLCO’s Annual Report of Section 10 of the AML Directive for the year 2016, even if the said AIF did not, during 2016, raise capital from investors.
- if a company with sole purpose the management of AIFLNP has taken up duties as external manager for an AIFLNP in December 2016, it is obliged, among other, to submit to CySEC the information under Section 4(3) of the AIFM Law for the year 2016, even if the said AIFLNP did not, during 2016, raise capital from investors.
- if a CIF / ASP has been authorised in December 2016, it is obliged, among other, to submit to CySEC the Monthly Prevention Statement of Section 11 of the AML Directive, for each month after its authorisation, even if the CIF / ASP was not operational during those months.
4. CySEC expects that the reports, even if they relate to a period during which the Regulated Entities were not operational, will contain the minimum required information requested by CySEC and / or the European Regulations.
5. Regulated Entities should refer to the relevant Circulars and / or Directives issued by CySEC, as well as to the relevant legislation and European Regulations, regarding the content and timing of submission for the relevant reports.
Concluding, CySEC expects that all Regulated Entities will take into account the above when preparing and submitting their reports, in order to ensure timely and full compliance with their obligations, in order to avoid any strict administrative sanctions in case of non-compliance with these requirements, as provided by the relevant legislation.