Dechert LLP (JD Supra Belgium)

UBO Register: introduction and legal framework - In implementation of EU Directive 2015/849 (the 4th EU Anti-Money Laundering Directive) a centralized registry of Ultimate Beneficial Owners (“UBOs”) of Belgian legal entities has been established by the law of 18 September 2017 on the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing and on restriction of the use of cash1 (the “Law”) and...

FSMA Communication on new procedure for electronic filing of documents - The Financial Services and Markets Authority ("FSMA") published Communication FSMA_2019_08 (in French and Dutch) on 21 March 2019 regarding the new procedure for the electronic submission of documents by collective funds (including UCITS passported into Belgium pursuant to Directive 2009/65/EU)....

Publication by the FSMA of the 2017 statistics regarding pension funds - The Financial Services and Markets Authority (“FSMA”) published the statistical data on 21 September 2018 on the sector relating to institutions providing occupational retirement provisions (“IORPs”) regarding the financial year 2017....

Publication by the FSMA of its annual report - The Financial Services and Markets Authority (“FSMA”) published its 2017 annual report on 8 June 2018. At the occasion of its presentation, the FSMA described the preventive and enforcement actions it had taken as well as the topics it had addressed in 2017.

Implementation of MiFID - The FSMA issued on 18 July 2017 a communication (the “Communication”) on the preparation for the entry into force of the Directive 2014/65/EU on Markets in Financial Instruments (“MiFID II”). Such Communication (FSMA_2017_11) aimed at facilitating the identification and the understanding of the new rules of conduct entering into force on 3 January 2018.

Belgian FSMA Issues Two Communications on the Marketing of Units in EEA and Non-EEA AIFs - The Belgian Financial Services and Markets Authority (“FSMA”) published two communications dated 24 February 2017 on the marketing and notification of units in alternative investment funds (AIFs) by alternative investment fund managers (AIFMs) under Articles 32, 36 and 42 of the Directive 2011/61/EU on

On 27 October 2015, the Belgian Financial Services and Markets Authority (“FSMA”) issued circular FSMA-2015-16 (the “Circular”) providing detailed guidance on the recently amended rules governing marketing materials used in connection with the offering of financial products to Belgian retail customers. These new rules were introduced by Royal Decree dated 25 April 2014 as amended by Royal...

Following Dechert’s Legal Update published on 14 September 2015, we have had sight of an updated draft of the proposed EU legislation on securitisations. The updated draft shows signs that regulators have taken on board some of the comments that Dechert, along with certain other leading law firms, raised earlier this month, however we believe that there is still room for improvement.

New legislation on extra-legal pensions has been introduced. The goal of this legislation is three-fold: - to avoid burdening employers with a huge financial cost; - to protect the goals of the law on extra-legal pensions (namely to increase the number of workers benefiting from an extra-legal pension scheme); and - to give unions and employers time to negotiate the necessary