The Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) has launched a consultation seeking feedback from stakeholders on the proposed legislative amendments related to the establishment of a new framework for Notified Professional Investor Funds (NPIFs).
This consultation follows and is complementary to the previous consultation document on the Proposed Establishment of a Framework for Notified Professional Investor Funds published in December 2022, which sought stakeholders’ views on the main features of the proposed framework and the first draft of the dedicated rulebook for the same framework.
This latest consultation exercise intends to gather stakeholders’ views on the proposed legislative amendments being envisaged to promulgate the framework, including the applicable fees.
The proposed framework is part of a number of key regulatory and policy initiatives being undertaken by the Authority in relation to asset management. These initiatives are aimed at further improving the regulatory platform for professional investment funds by means of streamlined, pragmatic and risk-based policymaking.
The Consultation Document is available on the Authority’s website.
Interested parties are encouraged to submit their comments to [email protected] by 22 June 2023.
Background to the NPIF Framework Proposal
The Notified PIF proposal seeks to provide an additional fund structure which complements existing fund frameworks. This new fund structure entails potentially lower associated setup and other operational and regulatory costs than those which are currently experienced in operating a fully licensed fund. It also seeks to take a more proportionate and risk-based approach to the onboarding process, given the regulated status of the funds’ service providers and the qualified status of the target investors.
NPIFs will be subject to a notification process and will therefore not be licensed by the MFSA. Such funds and their service providers will be required to adhere to the relevant conditions as stipulated in the proposed regulatory framework. NPIFs will be non-retail schemes made only available to Qualifying Investors and will be required to provide the appropriate risk disclosures to any prospective investor accordingly.
