Overview and Updates

The Directive on Alternative Investment Fund Managers (known as “AIFMD”) was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 1 July 2011, with a view to creating a comprehensive and effective regulatory and supervisory framework for alternative investment fund managers within the EU. It was required to be implemented into EU Member States’ national laws by 22 July 2013.

The scope of AIFMD is broad; it captures the management and marketing of alternative investment funds or “AIFs” (i.e. most vehicles that would be regarded as "funds”, as well as vehicles that one might not think of as a "fund" at all).

AIFMD has fundamentally changed the way alternative fund managers operate. However, since its inception the plan has always been to review the framework to ensure that it is fit for purpose. This review process was completed by the publication of an amending Directive (known as “AIFMD II”) in the Official Journal of the European Union on 26 March 2024.

We have prepared an unofficial consolidated text of AIFMD, illustrating the changes to be made by AIFMD II in context, in blacklining. In our AIFMD II publication, we summarise the final positions and consider what is still to come.

Content of the Directive

On this site, we explore each of the main topics in AIFMD, along with the upcoming changes being made by AIFMD II. Please click on the links to the right for more details on the various topics covered by AIFMD or use the tiles on the “Homepage”.

Some topics will only be relevant to European fund managers who are authorised under AIFMD as implemented in the jurisdiction in which they carry out their business. Other topics will be of wider relevance, including for managers based outside Europe. For example, non-European fund managers who are marketing their fund products to European investors may find the marketing sections useful. These sections will provide further details on which aspects of AIFMD these non-European fund managers need to comply with.

Overall, the changes being introduced by AIFMD II represent an evolution rather than a revolution in approach. Some changes, such as the increased flexibility for depositaries, are responsive to market demands (although a full passport remains out of reach for now), whereas other changes, such as the new loan origination framework and heightened liquidity management rules, are a reflection of market developments since AIFMD came into effect in 2013 and an increasing need for regulators to have greater oversight of these activities.

Implementation in EU Member States

AIFMD, as is generally the case with EU Directives, is not directly applicable itself and required each EU Member State to enact domestic legislation to implement it. It is therefore important when analysing the law in any given EU Member State to consider how the relevant Member State has implemented AIFMD and whether the relevant Member State has any guidance regarding how the law should be interpreted in that jurisdiction.

AIFMD is also supplemented, at the EU level, by directly applicable Level 2 Regulations (see EU, Luxembourg and UK Sources). The Level 2 Regulations apply in all Member States in addition to any domestic legislation without any further domestic implementation required.

AIFMD II is also not directly applicable, and EU Member States have two years after publication of the text to transpose the rules into national law. This means AIFMD II will apply from 16 April 2026, with some rules subject to a transitional period. It will also be supplemented by new level 2 regulations and guidance, which are currently being developed.

Implementation in the UK

The UK implemented AIFMD into domestic law when it was part of the European Union. Post Brexit, the UK has retained many of the rules stemming from AIFMD. However, the UK is now considered a “third country” for the purposes of AIFMD. As such, among other impacts, UK AIFMs will no longer be able to market funds on the basis of the previous EU passport and instead will have to rely on NPPRs (where available) when marketing any AIF into the EU.

Changes made at an EU level are no longer being implemented in the UK; this includes AIFMD II. In addition, the UK is considering what, if any, changes it will make at a domestic level to its own rules. See our note on the UK’s proposed reforms, published in April 2025.

For more details on the impact of Brexit on the rules applicable to UK and EU AIFs and AIFMs following 31 December 2020, please see the “AIFMD in the UK after Brexit” page.

EEA relevance

AIFMD is marked “with EEA relevance”. This means that it was intended to be adopted under the agreement constituting the European Economic Area (“EEA”), and it was so adopted in 2016 (see here for more information). From the date of adoption, AIFMD has the same legal effect in non-EU countries within the EEA (i.e. Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) as in EU Member States. Nevertheless, for consistency with the AIFMD text, on this site we refer to “EU” and “non-EU” rather than “EEA” and “non-EEA”.

Updates

The European Commission launched its Savings and Investments Union (“SIU”) plan on 19 March 2025, followed by a wide-ranging consultation published on 15 April 2025. The consultation covered two main areas:

• barriers in general to the integration and modernisation of, among other things, the distribution of funds across the EU and efficient cross-border operations of asset management; and 
• barriers specifically linked to supervision.

It closed on 10 June 2025, and the Commission notes that the responses received will help shape measures to be presented in a comprehensive package in Q4 2025.