Agefi Luxembourg - avril 2025

AGEFI Luxembourg 28 Avril 2025 Fonds d’investissement ByDr.SebastiaanNiels HOOGHIEMSTRA , Loyens&Loeff Luxembourg * T heCommissionde Surveil- lance duSecteur Financier (the “CSSF”) published on 6March 2025 a communiqué inwhich it an- nounced an evolution in the electronic VISA“stamp” procedure for the pros- pectuses of UCITS, Part II UCIs, SICARs andSIFs (to- gether, “UCIs”) applicable as from1April 2025. The so-cal- led “e-identificationproce- dure”modernizes theCSSF’s administrative procedure while enhancing efficiency and ensuring compliance. On 20 March 2025, theCSSF published on eDesk guidelines (the “Guidelines”) that specify the above-mentionedprocedure and contains (i) details on the newprocedure, (ii) technical guidance on the IT application and (iii) an FAQsection. This contributiondis- cusses the key elements of theseGuidelines. TheNewApproval Process Procedure related to amendments to an existingUCI Prospectus Thee-identificationproceduremodernizestheCSSF’s administrative procedure. It has as an objective to allowforbettertime-to-marketofLuxembourgregu- lated fund products and, therefore, does not require everyprospectus amendment tobepre-approvedby theCSSFpriortothefilingofthedefinitiveprospectus via the e-identification procedure on eDesk. The e- identificationprocedure takes a risk-basedapproach, which allows the CSSF supervision to be more effi- cient, and emphasizes the responsibility of the gov- erning body of theUCI. Theexistingprocessthatiscurrentlybeinginplaceon eDesk for approving new UCIs remains to be un- changed. However, with respect to amendments to the approval process for amendments to an existing UCIprospectus,theCSSFintroducedinitsGuidelines two categories of amendments: -Category1: Amendments requiringa reviewby the CSSFprior to the prospectus identificationprocess; - Category 2: Amendments which do not legally re- quire authorization or prior reviewby the CSSF, and which can therefore be incorporated directly into the prospectusatthetimeoftheprospectusidentification process. TheGuidelines, in addition, provide inAppendix 1 anon-exhaustive listwithexamples of amendments that require CSSF pre-approval (i.e. Category 1 changes).Amix of amendments that fall under cat- egories 1/2 is also possible. If a prospectus contains amendments of both categories, all amendments must be submitted to the CSSF for approval and be visible in track changes. The Guidelines require, however, that changes that fall underCategory1 (i.e. require approval)must be highlighted in colour or in another format, so that the relevantCSSFcaseofficer can immediately iden- tify them. Category2amendmentsdonotrequireapproval,but the CSSF will adopt a risk-based approach andmay request documents or additional documents for the purpose of an ex-post analysis of amendments, de facto, constituting ex-post supervision. ListofAmendmentsrequiringpriorreviewby theCSSF Appendix 1 of the Guidelines contains a (non-exhaustive) list with examples of amendments that require CSSF approval. A separate list is included for UCITS and non-UCITS. Mentioned changes, include, amongst others: - Set up of a new (sub-)fund (including conversion into a (non-)UCITS)); - Changes relates to: o The rules of instruments of in- corporation; o The managers and/or the gov- erning body’s composition; or o Other key features of an exist- ing fund. - Change of service provider(-s); -Mergers; - Material changes within one or more existing (sub-)fund(-s) to: oThe name; oThe investment policy or strategy; o (Material changes to the) SFDRannexes; o Frequency ofNAVcalculation; o Introduction of performance fees or change to the applicable conditions or model and other material changes. WithrespecttoUCITS,alsoamendmentswithrespect to share classes, such as new ETF share classes or newlyaddedperformancefees,arerequiredtobeap- proved. ListofAmendmentsnotrequiringpriorreviewbythe CSSF Appendix2oftheGuidelinescontainsa(non-exhaus- tive) list of amendments that donot requireCSSFap- proval. A separate list is included for UCITS and non-UCITS. Mentioned changes, include, amongst others: -Shareclassesset-up(alreadyregisteredattheCSSF), including; oName changes to share class(-es); o Merger(-s) of share classes (within the same sub- fund); o Share class(-es) feature(-s) change(-s). - Amendments to the initiator, if indicated in the prospectus; - Cost and fees; -Non-material changes to an existing (sub-)fund; -Changesrelatedtothegeneralpartoftheprospectus; and - Non-material ESMA or other European or interna- tional institutions-related updates to ensure compli- ancewithQ&As, guidelines and recommendations. Non-exhaustive list of commonmaterial changes Material changes to a UCI are significant alterations toitsfundamentalcharacteristicsthatcouldimpactin- vestordecisions.Whenconsideringamaterialchange, UCIs should consider whether there is a substantial likelihood that an investor, becoming aware of such change, would reconsider its investment in the UCI. As such, aUCI should analyze the impact of anypo- tential change on its investors (i.e. compare the in- vestors’ interests/situation before and after implementationof the change). TheGuidelinescontaininAppendix3a(non-exhaus- tive) list of common material changes that, amongst others, include the changes in relation to: - Investment objective andpolicy; - Change in management company, portfolio man- ager or investment adviser: replacing the existing managerwith a different entity; - Fees and expenses, such as an increase in manage- ment fees or other expenses that increase the costs for investors; - Othermaterial changes, such as: oThe creationof a side pocket; o Changes to the characteristics of a share class and changes to the conditions in theprospectus related to theNAV. - Changes to the SFDR templates, including changes to the SFDR classification or to the name of the (sub- )fund falling under the ESMA Guidelines on fund’s name or amaterial change in the SFDR criteria. The requirements formaterial changes affecting in- vestors inLuxembourgUCIs, as stipulated inCSSF Circular 14/591, remain to unaffected by the Guidelines. Inaccordancewithexisting supervisorypractice, any material changes impacting investor interests in an open-endedUCI are required tohave a sufficient no- tificationperiodtoenableinformeddecision-making. This period allows investors to assess the material change’spotential effect on their interests and the in- vestment basis upon which they initially invested. The CSSF considers that investorsmust be afforded adequate time to thoroughly analyze the proposed change. Therefore, material changes require amini- mum notification period of one (1) month for in- forming investors of material UCI changes. During this period, changes may not be implemented until thenotificationperiod is expired. Furthermore, dur- ing this period: - Investors retain the right to request redemption or repurchase of their unitswithout incurring any asso- ciated charges; - UCIsmay, but is not obligated to, offer unit conver- sionintounitsofanotherUCI(oradifferentsub-fund within the sameUCI), free of charge. TheGuidelinesspecifythattheCSSFmaygrantdero- gations from these notification requirements and in- vestor rights upon receipt of a duly substantiated request. Such derogations may be considered in ex- ceptional circumstances, for example: -Whenall investors for their ownaccount in the rele- vant UCI unanimously consent to the proposed changes; -When a shorter notification period is deemed suffi- cienttoadequatelyinforminvestorsoftheimpending change, without granting them redemption or con- version rights. The CSSF will not require receipt of investor notices sent for amendments that do not legally require au- thorization or prior review by the CSSF. The CSSF may request suchnotice on a case-by-case basis. Lastly, it is to be noted that, although the Guidelines provide examples of material changes of a UCI prospectus, many but not all material prospectus changes are subject to theprior approval of theCSSF. The E-identification Approval Process Procedure Thee-identificationprocedureconsistsoftwophases: (i) the approval process procedure and (ii) the prospectus e-identificationprocedure. Category1amendmentscanbesubmittedfore-iden- tification when the required CSSF review has been completed. Category 2 amendments may without CSSF approval be filed for e-identification. Submis- sions for e-identificationmay place through two dis- tinct channels: -UsingtheS3APIinterfaceemployedbytheCSSFfor file exchange; or - Through an online form accessible on the CSSF’s eDeskplatform. Thefilingof prospectus amendments througheDesk is required to followtwosteps. First, a formprovided by the eDeskapplication is required tobe completed. The form requires the amendments made to the prospectusthatwerereviewed/approvedbytheCSSF tobe summarized.Amendments not requiringCSSF approval are not required to be summarized. Second, the final and clean version of the prospectus (without any track changes) is required tobe submit- tedvia the eDeske-identificationprospectus applica- tion. The submission needs to contain additionally necessarydocumentsthatarerequiredtobeattached. Upon submission, the CSSF allocates a unique iden- tificationnumber,i.e.the“e-identification”,tothefiles (YYYY/NNNNNN- NNNNNN-N-PC) and record the e-identificationdate. Transitional period Prospectuses are required to be filed through the e- identification application at eDesk as from 1 April 2025. For documents for which the filing was initi- ated through the e-file procedure for the visa stamp prior to 31 March 2025, the transitional period was until 16April 2025. Outlook: TheNewCSSF e-Identification Procedure –AFirst Evaluation It is clear that, with the introduction of the newCSSF e-identification procedure, the CSSF sought to rebal- ancethesupervisionprocessandshifttowardsacom- binationof ex-ante and ex-post supervision. Till date, allamendmentstoprospectusesofUCIsrequiredap- proval. Thiswas not desirable froma time-to-market and investor protection perspective nor allowed for an efficient supervision process. In this respect, it is also noteworthy that there are a couple of Member States in Europe, in particular in the UCITS domain, that require less in terms of amendments to be ap- proved by their national competent authority than is the case inLuxembourg. Additionally,theelectronicVISA“stamp”procedure has evolved from the longstanding Luxembourg practice inwhich the focus of financial supervision in theAIFdomainwas rather focusedon the “product” than on the “manager”. TheAIFMDhas, however, a largefocuson“managersupervision”and,therefore, stringentrequirementsonthe“productlevel”areless warranted. Furthermore, retail-ELTIFs, which use non-regulated (Luxembourg) fundproducts, suchas theRAIF, were subject to a faster andoften less oner- ousCSSFapprovalprocedurethanthetraditionalreg- ulatedLuxembourgAIFsmarketedtowell-informed investors. Given that ELTIFs have a European (retail) marketing passport, this may be considered as odd. Hence, the CSSF approach towards the supervision of regulatedLuxembourg fundproducts, indeed, re- quired anoverhaul. TheCSSFGuidelinesnotonlyprovideagoodbalance between ex-ante and ex-post supervision, but it also provides(non-exhaustive)listsofexamplesofamend- ments to prospectuses that require approval and ex- amples that do not require approval, as well as examples of changes that are considered to bemate- rial.Theprocess,thus,providesalotofclaritytomar- ket participants. This is laudable. ItistooshorttoconsiderwhethertheGuidelinesmeet the objectives on the basis of which they were adopted, but the start is hopeful. (*) Dr. Sebastiaan Hooghiemstra is a senior associate in the invest- ment management practice of Loyens & Loeff Luxembourg and Senior Fellow of the International Center for Financial Law & Governance at theErasmusUniversityRotterdam. The New CSSF e-Identification Procedure Par Enguerrand ARTAZ, Stratégiste, La Financière de l'Échiquier I l y a quelques mois, les records enchaî- nés par les actions américaines faisaient la une de la presse financière. Ces der- nières semaines, le vert a cédé la place au rouge vif dans les tableaux de performance maisWall Street n'en continue pas moins de poser des jalons historiques. Après les annonces tarifaires de Donald Trump lors de son "LiberationDay", le S&P 500 s'effon- drait de -10,5%en 2 jours, soit la plus forte baisse sur une aussi courte période depuis le covid. Un phénomène observé seulement à 5 reprises depuis les années 1930. Le 8 avril, l'indice phare de la bourse américaine connaissait l'un des plus brutaux renversements de tendance de son histoire, en gagnant +4% dans les premières heures de cotation, avant de s'inscrire en baisse de près de -3%peu avant la clôture. Le lende- main,aprèsl'annonceparlePrésidentaméricaind'une pause de 90 jours des tarifs douaniers "réciproques", le Nasdaq s'envolait de 12%, la 3 ème plus forte hausse journalièrede l'histoire.Au cours de la séancedu len- demain, il effaçait temporairement les deux tiers de cerebondhistorique.Cemarchédemontagnesrusses vertigineuses ravi les traders autant qu'il désespère les investisseurs de long terme. Il est surtout le signe quelesacteursdemarchésontconfrontésàunetotale perte de repère. Et aussi de confiance, comme en témoigne le comportement des actifs refuges. Le 11 avril l'or franchissait la barre des 3200$ l'once et atteignait des nouveaux records, tandis que le Yen franchissait la barre des 143 yens pour 1 dol- lar, un niveau plus atteint depuis septembre 2024, quand les craintes d'une récession américaine imminente étaient à leur paroxysme. Même logique pour le Franc suisse, au plus haut contre le billet vert depuis la crise des dettes souveraines en 2011. Cette perte de confiance des investisseurs est évidemment due à l'absence totale de visibilité induite par la politique erratique de Donald Trump. Elle est aussi lemiroir du flou dans lequel sont plongées les entreprises et dont les impacts sont bien plus profonds. En effet, s'il est certaine- ment désagréable pour Goldman Sachs de devoir remettre en cause, en quelques heures à peine, son scénario économique [1] , cela n'est qu'un trait de plume. Ce n'est pas aussi simple pour une entre- prise qui a déjà annulé des commandes, constitué des stocks prévisionnels ou ajusté ses effectifs. Comment est-ce qu'unpatronpeut réaliser lamoin- dre prévision, définir le moindre plan stratégique ou encore mettre en œuvre la moindre feuille de route quand les règles du jeu peuvent changer en quelques jours dans des proportions absurdes ? Alors que s'ouvre la traditionnelle saisondes résul- tats trimestriels des entreprises, nous pouvons ima- giner le désarroi des dirigeants aumoment demet- tre à jour leurs prévisions pour l'année, voire juste celles du trimestre prochain. Davantage que l'effet direct de la hausse des tarifs douaniers, c'est peut-être cette perte de confiance qui est la plus grande menace pour l'économie. L'une des conséquences de la perte de confiance étantl'immobilisme.Etiln'yariendepirepourl'éco- nomie que des entreprises et des ménages qui, téta- nisés par le brouillard, arrêtent d'investir et de consommer. Lapausede90 jours sur les tarifsdoua- niers réciproques annoncée en grande pompe par Donald Trump ne change rien. D'une part, parce qu'à cause de l'escalade avec la Chine en parallèle du report pour les autres pays, le tauxmoyendedroitsdedouaneauxÉtats-Unisreste autour de 25%. D'autre part, car ces 90 jours censés permettre la conclusion d'accords commerciaux ne font,enréalité,querallongerlapérioded'incertitude. Les entreprises comme les investisseurs sont capa- bles de s'adapter à toutes les situations, même les plus désagréables, mais un minimum de visibilité est nécessaire. Sans visibilité, pas de confiance. Et sans confiance, la prudenceresterademise,danslecomportementdes entreprises comme dans celui desmarchés. [1] Le 9 avril après-midi, Goldman Sachs a mis à jour ses perspectives économiques pour les États-Unis, faisant de la récession son scénario central. Moins d'une heure et demie plus tard, après l'annonce par Donald Trump d'une pause de 90 jours sur les tarifs douaniers réci- proques, la banque est revenue en arrière en retirant la récession de son scénariocentral. Une histoire de confiance