31 Amendments of Markus FERBER related to 2021/0377(COD)
Amendment 80 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 5
Recital 5
(5) The rules for ELTIFs are almost identical for both professional and retail investors, including rules on the use of leverage, on the diversification of assets and composition of the portfolios, on concentration limits and on limits on the eligible assets and investments. Both types of investors, however, have different time horizons, risk tolerances and investment need, investment needs and capabilities to analyse investment opportunities. Because of those almost identical rules and the consequential high administrative burden and associated costs for ELTIFs destined for professional investors, asset managers have been reluctant to offer tailored products to such investors. Professional investors have a higher risk tolerance than retail investors and may have, due to their nature and activities, different time horizon and return objectives. It is therefore appropriate to provide for specific rules for ELTIFs that are destined to be marketed to professional investors, in particular with regard to the diversification and composition of the portfolio concerned, the minimum threshold for eligible assets, the concentration limits, and the borrowing of cash.
Amendment 94 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 10
Recital 10
(10) It is necessary to extend the scope of eligible assets and promote the investments of ELTIFs in securitised assets. It should therefore be clarified that, where the underlying assets consist of long-term exposures, eligible investment assets should also include simple, transparent and standardised (STS) securitisations as referred to in Article 18 of Regulation (EU) 2017/2402 of the European Parliament and of the Council14 ecuritisations. Those long-term exposures comprise securitisations of residential loans that are secured by one or more mortgages on residential immovable property (residential mortgage backed securities (RMBS)), commercial loans that are secured by one or more mortgages on commercial immovable property, corporate loans, including loans which are granted to small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and trade receivables or other underlying exposures that the originator considers to form a distinct asset type, provided that the proceeds from securitising those trade receivables or other underlying exposures are used for financing or refinancing long- term investments. _________________ 14 Regulation (EU) 2017/2402 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2017 laying down a general framework for securitisation and creating a specific framework for simple, transparent and standardised securitisation, and amending Directives 2009/65/EC, 2009/138/EC and 2011/61/EU and Regulations (EC) No 1060/2009 and (EU) No 648/2012 (OJ L 347, 28.12.2017, p. 35).
Amendment 102 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 13
Recital 13
(13) Due to concerns that fund-of-funds strategies can give rise to investments that would not fall within the scope of eligible investment assets, Regulation (EU) 2015/760 currently contains restrictions on investments in other funds throughout the ELTIF’s life. Fund-of-fund strategies are, however, a common and very effective way of obtaining rapid exposure to illiquid assets, in particular in respect of real estate and in the context of fully paid-in capital structures. It is therefore necessary to give ELTIFs the possibility to invest in other funds, because that would enable ELTIFs to ensure a faster deployment of capital. Facilitating fund-of-fund investments by ELTIFs would also allow reinvestment of excess cash into funds as different investments with distinct maturities may lower the cash drag of the ELTIF. It is therefore necessary to expand the eligibility of funds-of-funds strategies for ELTIF managers beyond investments in European venture capital funds (EuVECAs) or European social entrepreneurship funds (EuSEFs). The scope of collective investment undertakings in which ELTIFs can invest should thus be broadened to undertakings for collective investment in transferable securities (UCITS) and to EU alternative investment funds (EU AIFs) managed by EU AIF managers. However, in order to ensure effective investor protection, it is also necessary to set out that where an ELTIF invests in other ELTIFs, in European venture capital funds (EuVECAs), in European social entrepreneurship funds (EuSEFs), in UCITS and EU AIFs managed by EU AIFMs, those collective investment undertakings should also invest in eligible investments and have not themselves invested more than 1025 % of their capital in any other collective investment undertaking.
Amendment 109 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 15
Recital 15
(15) The diversification requirements laid down in the current version of Regulation (EU) 2015/760 were introduced to ensure that ELTIFs can withstand adverse market circumstances. Those diversification thresholds imply, however, that ELTIFs are, on average, required to make ten distinct investments. Those provisions have proven to be too restrictive. In relation to investment in projects or infrastructures of large scale, the requirement to make ten investments per ELTIF may be difficult to achieve, and costly in terms of transactional costs and capital allocation. To reduce transaction and administrative costs for ELTIFs and ultimately their investors, ELTIFs should therefore be able to pursue more concentrated investment strategies and thus to be exposed to fewer eligible assets. It is therefore necessary to adjust the diversification requirements for ELTIFs’ exposures to single qualifying portfolio undertakings, single real assets, collective investment undertakings and certain other eligible investment assets, contracts and financial instruments. That additional flexibility in the portfolio composition of ELTIFs and the reduction in the diversification requirements should not materially affect the capacity of ELTIFs to withstand market volatility, since ELTIFs typically invest in assets that often do not have a readily available market quotation, may be highly illiquid, and frequently have long-term maturity or time horizon.
Amendment 112 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 16
Recital 16
(16) Unlike retail investors, professional investors may, in certain circumstances, have a longer time horizon, distinct financial returns objectives, more expertise, possess higher risk tolerance to adverse market conditions and higher capacity to absorb losses. Such professional investors thus require lessmore tailor-made investor protection measures that allow for more flexibility than retail investors. It is therefore appropriate to remove the diversification requirements for ELTIFs that are solely marketed to professional investors.
Amendment 121 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 20
Recital 20
(20) Article 10, point (e), of Regulation (EU) 2015/760 currently requires that eligible investment assets, where those assets are individual real assets, have a value of at least EUR 10 000 000. Real assets portfolios, however, are often composed of a number of individual real assets which have a value of significantly less than EUR 10 000 000. The value of individual real asset should therefore be reduced to EUR 1 000 000. That amount is based on the estimated value of individual real assets which may typically form large real assets portfolios, and may thus contribute to the diversification of an investment portfolio.
Amendment 122 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 21
Recital 21
(21) Article 11(1), point (b)(ii) of Regulation (EU) 2015/760 currently requires that qualifying portfolio undertakings, where those qualifying undertakings are admitted to trading on a regulated market or on a multilateral trading facility, have a market capitalisation of no more than EUR 500 000 000. Many listed companies with a low market capitalisation, however, have a limited liquidity which prevents ELTIF managers from building, within a reasonable time, a sufficient position in such listed companies, which narrows down the range of available investment targets. In order to provide ELTIFs with a better liquidity profile, the market capitalisation of the listed qualifying undertakings in which ELTIFs can invest should therefore be increased from maximum EUR 500 000 000 to maximum EUR 15 000 000 000. To avoid potential changes to the eligibility of such investments due to currency fluctuations or other factors, the determination of the market capitalisation threshold should only be made at the time of the initial investment.
Amendment 133 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 26
Recital 26
(26) To provide ELTIFs with wider investment opportunities, ELTIFs should be able to borrow in the currency in which the manager of the ELTIF expects to acquire the asset. It is, however, necessary to mitigate the risk of currency mismatches and thus to limit the currency risk for the investment portfolio. ELTIFs should therefore either put in place adequappropriately hedges of the currency exposure, or should borrow in another currency where foreign currency exposures do not bring about significant currency risks their currency exposure.
Amendment 135 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 27
Recital 27
Amendment 141 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 28
Recital 28
(28) Given the increase of the maximum thresholds for borrowing cash by ELTIFs and the removal of certain limitations on the borrowing of cash in foreign currencies, investors should have more comprehensive information on the borrowing strategy and limits employed by the ELTIF. It is therefore appropriate to require ELTIF managers to explicitly disclose in the prospectus of the ELTIF concerned the borrowing strategy and the borrowing limits and to provide informationan overview onf how leverage will contribute to the ELTIF strategy and how currency and duration risks will be mitigated.
Amendment 150 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 40
Recital 40
(40) In order to give ELTIF managers sufficient time to adapt to the new requirements, including the requirements pertaining to the marketing of ELTIFs to investors, this Regulation should start to apply sixtwelve months after its entry into force,
Amendment 174 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 5
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 5
Regulation (EU) 2015/760
Article 10 – paragraph 1 – point d
Article 10 – paragraph 1 – point d
(d) units or shares of one or several other ELTIFs, EuVECAs, EuSEFs, UCITS and EU AIFs managed by EU AIFM provided that those ELTIFs, EuVECAs, EuSEFs¸ UCITS and EU AIFs invest in eligible investments as referred to in Article 9(1) and (2) and have not themselves invested more than 1025% of their assets in any other collective investment undertaking.
Amendment 179 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 5
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 5
Regulation (EU) 2015/760
Article 10 – paragraph 1 – point e
Article 10 – paragraph 1 – point e
(e) real assets with a value of at least EUR 1 000 000 or its equivalent in the currency in which, and at the time when, the expenditure is incurred;
Amendment 183 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 5
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 5
Regulation (EU) 2015/760
Article 10 – paragraph 1 – point f – introductory part
Article 10 – paragraph 1 – point f – introductory part
(f) simple, transparent and standardised securitisations where the underlying exposures correspond to one of the following categories:ecuritisations;
Amendment 184 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 5
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 5
Regulation (EU) 2015/760
Article 10 – paragraph 1 – point f – point i
Article 10 – paragraph 1 – point f – point i
Amendment 186 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 5
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 5
Regulation (EU) 2015/760
Article 10 – paragraph 1 – point f – point ii
Article 10 – paragraph 1 – point f – point ii
Amendment 193 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 6 – point b
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 6 – point b
Regulation (EU) 2015/760
Article 11 – paragraph 1 – point b – point ii
Article 11 – paragraph 1 – point b – point ii
(ii) is admitted to trading on a regulated market or on a multilateral trading facility and has a market capitalisation of no more than EUR 15 000 000 000 at the time of the initial investment;;
Amendment 205 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 8 – point a
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 8 – point a
1. An ELTIF shall invest at least 60 40% of its capital in eligible investment assets.
Amendment 209 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 8 – point a
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 8 – point a
Regulation (EU) 2015/760
Article 13 – paragraph 2 – point a
Article 13 – paragraph 2 – point a
(a) 205 % of its capital in instruments issued by, or loans granted to, any single qualifying portfolio undertaking;
Amendment 212 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 8 – point a Regulation (EU) 2015/760
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 8 – point a Regulation (EU) 2015/760
(b) 205 % of its capital directly or indirectly in a single real asset;
Amendment 216 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 8 – point a
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 8 – point a
Regulation (EU) 2015/760
Article 13 – paragraph 2 – point c
Article 13 – paragraph 2 – point c
(c) 205 % of its capital in units or shares of any single ELTIF, EuVECA, EuSEF, UCITS or EU AIF managed by an EU AIFM;
Amendment 219 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 8 – point a
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 8 – point a
Regulation (EU) 2015/760
Article 13 – paragraph 2 – point d
Article 13 – paragraph 2 – point d
(d) 1025 % of its capital in assets as referred to in Article 9(1), point (b), where those assets have been issued by any single body.
Amendment 221 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 8 – point a
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 8 – point a
Regulation (EU) 2015/760
Article 13 – paragraph 3
Article 13 – paragraph 3
Amendment 230 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 8 – point b
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 8 – point b
Regulation (EU) 2015/760
Article 13 – paragraph 3a
Article 13 – paragraph 3a
3a. The aggregate value of simple, transparent and standardised securitisations in an ELTIF portfolio shall not exceed 205% of the value of the capital of the ELTIF.;
Amendment 247 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 10 – point a – point i
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 10 – point a – point i
Regulation (EU) 2015/760
Article 16 – paragraph 1 – point b
Article 16 – paragraph 1 – point b
(b) it serves the purpose of making investments or providing liquidity, including to pay costs and expenses, except for loans as referred to in Article 10, point (c), provided that the holdings in cash or cash equivalents of the ELTIF are not sufficient to make the investment concerned;
Amendment 253 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 10 – point c
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 10 – point c
Regulation (EU) 2015/760
Article 16 – paragraph 2
Article 16 – paragraph 2
2. The manager of the ELTIF shall specify in the prospectus of the ELTIF whether or not the ELTIF intends to borrow cash as part of the ELTIF’s investment strategy and shall provide a detailedhigh-level presentation of the ELTIF borrowing strategy and limits. In particular, the manager of the ELTIF shall indicate how borrowing will help implement the ELTIF strategy and mitigate borrowing, currency and duration risks.;
Amendment 275 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 20
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 20
Regulation (EU) 2015/760
Article 30 – paragraph 9
Article 30 – paragraph 9
9. The manager of an ELTIF marketed to retail investors shall establish appropriate procedures and arrangements to deal with retail investor complaints, which shall allow retail investors to file complaints in the official language or one of the official languages of their Member State or in English.;
Amendment 277 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 21
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 21
Regulation (EU) 2015/760
Article 37 – paragraph 1
Article 37 – paragraph 1
1. No later than [date of the entry into force + 56 years], the Commission shall starpresent a review report of the application of this Regulation. The report may be accompanies by legislative proposal if appropriate. The review shall analyse, in particular:
Amendment 278 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 21
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 21
Regulation (EU) 2015/760
Article 37 – paragraph 1 – point d
Article 37 – paragraph 1 – point d
(d) the impact of the application of the minimum thresholds of eligible investment assets laid down in Article 13(1) on asset diversification and risk-adjusted returns;
Amendment 280 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 21
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 21
Regulation (EU) 2015/760
Article 37 – paragraph 1 – point i a (new)
Article 37 – paragraph 1 – point i a (new)
(i a) whether and under what conditions open-ended ELTIFs could be introduced;
Amendment 284 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 2
Article 2 – paragraph 2
Regulation (EU) 2015/760
Article 38 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2
Article 38 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2
It shall apply from [entry into force + 612 months].