Fund Distribution Alert 2021-24

On 31 August 2021, the EU Directive 2019/1160 entered into force in Poland with the Act of 23 July 2021, transposing this directive and amending the act on investment funds and management of alternative investment funds, as well as certain other acts.

Below are the main changes in terms of cross-border fund distribution, which go further than the Directive being transposed:

• The appointment of a Polish representative and Polish paying agent are made optional. The requirement to indicate the name and address of these entities in Part B of the notification letter remains, but only applies if these entities were appointed
• In terms of additional information to Polish investors, the EU-UCITS shall indicate its representative or payment agent, together with a short description of the functions performed by them - if appointed by the EU-UCITS, and, if the EU-UCITS has not appointed a representative it shall indicate:
  • how complaints by investors may be submitted, and
  • how investors are provided with information about the EU-UCITS.
• The EU-UCITS shall ensure that the facilities to perform the relevant tasks as per art. 92 (1) of the Directive are carried out either by the EU-UCITS, its management company, a representative established in Poland or a paying agent, and that such facilities are provided in Polish.
• It is specified that the EU-UCITS is, from now on, obliged to:
  • provide investors with at least the same level of protection as in the home state
  • provide investors with confirmation of sale or redemption of units in Polish, at the same frequency applicable in the EU-UCITS’ home state.
• As part of a denotification, the required blanket offer and intention to terminate arrangements made for marketing, must be made available in Polish.

• In terms of EU-AIFs being notified for distribution in Poland and entered in the KNF register, this is now subject to a regulatory fee of no more than the PLN equivalent of EUR 2,500. In the case of a fund with separate sub-funds, such a fee is also subject to entry in the register of the second and each subsequent sub-fund.
• EU-AIFs notified for distribution in Poland and included in the KNF register will be required to pay an annual regulatory fee of no more than the PLN equivalent of EUR 2,000. If such a fund is a fund with separate sub-funds, the annual fee shall be increased by no more than the PLN equivalent of EUR 200 for each sub-fund thereof entered in the register, starting with the second sub-fund.
• EU-AIFMs will be required to pay an annual regulatory fee of no more than the PLN equivalent of EUR 2,000 for each EU-AIF that they manage entered in the KNF register. If such a fund is a fund with separate sub-funds, the annual fee shall be increased by no more than the PLN equivalent of EUR 500 for each sub-fund thereof entered in the register, starting with the second sub-fund.

The Act of 23 July 2021 is currently only available in Polish and can be accessed in full here.

For further information on the directive, please consult our fund distribution alert dated 16 July 2019 accessible here.

Please feel free to contact us should you require any additional information.

Partner
+352 22 51 51 7892
said.fihri@kpmg.lu

Director
+352 22 51 51 7271
stephanie.zedda@kpmg.lu