Join Consob/Bank of Italy Communication of 14 April 2020

UCITS periodic accounting documentation: Statement ESMA no. 34-45-896 of 9 April 2020

On 9 April 2020, ESMA published a Public Statement entitled "Actions to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on the deadlines for the publication of periodic reports by fund managers"[1].

In the Statement, ESMA highlights that the annual and half-yearly accounting documentation of the funds is an important point of reference for making informed decisions by investors and that the related obligations are governed by the EU harmonization framework.

The European Authority remarks that the current pandemic environment could prevent "Fund Managers" from a prompt fulfilling of their obligations. In this regard, ESMA expects National Authorities to act in compliance with the applicable national framework and, where possible, do not prioritize their supervisory actions vis-à-vis collective managers as far as the delay in the publication of the accounting documentation is limited to a specific time lapse as defined in the same statement.

The Statement specifies that the position is taken by ESMA without prejudice to the provisions of national regulations.

With reference to the obligations covered by the ESMA Statement, it should be noted that at a national level, Articles No 2 and No 3 of the Ministerial Decree 30/2015[2] issue precise obligations with relation to their publication (for Italian UCITS) or to their disclosure to investors (for Italian Alternative Funds) within predetermined terms.

In relation to the terms above mentioned, at the moment there have been no reported difficulties or prospects for extension by the Italian collective managers.

CONSOB and the Bank of Italy expect operators to express the greatest possible organizational effort to meet the information needs of the underwriters of the funds (UCITS or Alternative Funds) under Italian law within the deadlines set by national regulations.

[1] https://www.esma.europa.eu/sites/default/files/library/esma34-45-896_public_statement_on_publication_deadlines_in_fund_management_area.pdf

[2] Implementing regulation related to Article No 39 of the Legislative Decree 24 February 1998, No 58 (Consolidated Law on Finance - TUF) concerning the determination of the general criteria with which the Italian Collective Investment Schemes (UCITS) must comply.