Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am very pleased to have the opportunity to speak at your annual conference today. It is a great pleasure for me to speak for the first time at your annual meeting and doing so in my new capacity of Executive Director of ESMA.
As you are all well aware, this is a crucial time for alternative asset managers given the new AIFMD framework which the industry will have to adapt to in the forthcoming months in order to be prepared by July 2013. Of course, this is a crucial time for ESMA as well since we are due to deliver our advice to the Commission by mid-November in order to allow the latter to finalise the Level 2 measures by next summer.
Before discussing the main aspects of the AIFMD, I would like to say a few words about ESMA and to mention some other pieces of EU legislation which may also be quite relevant for the hedge funds industry.
Starting with ESMA, I would like to stress that since its creation at the beginning of this year as a new EU independent authority, a considerable amount of work has already been done in order to ensure we meet expectations. Due to the transition from CESR to ESMA, our internal organisation has been restructured and ESMA has now different divisions and units better reflecting tasks such as policy making, direct supervision of CRAs and research on financial market trends and stability issues.
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