CHAPTER II

AUTHORISATION OF AIFMs

Conditions for granting authorisation
Article 8
1
The competent authorities of the home Member State of the AIFM shall not grant authorisation unless:
a
they are satisfied that the AIFM will be able to meet the conditions of this Directive;
b
the AIFM has sufficient initial capital and own funds in accordance with Article 9;
c
the persons who effectively conduct the business of the AIFM are of sufficiently good repute and are sufficiently experienced also in relation to the investment strategies pursued by the AIFs managed by the AIFM, the names of those persons and of every person succeeding them in office being communicated forthwith to the competent authorities of the home Member State of the AIFM and the conduct of the business of the AIFM being decided by at least two persons meeting such conditions;
d
the shareholders or members of the AIFM that have qualifying holdings are suitable taking into account the need to ensure the sound and prudent management of the AIFM; and
e
the head office and the registered office of the AIFM are located in the same Member State.
Authorisation shall be valid for all Member States.
2
The relevant competent authorities of the other Member States involved shall be consulted before authorisation is granted to the following AIFMs:
a
a subsidiary of another AIFM, of a UCITS management company, of an investment firm, of a credit institution or of an insurance undertaking authorised in another Member State;
b
a subsidiary of the parent undertaking of another AIFM, of a UCITS management company, of an investment firm, of a credit institution or of an insurance undertaking authorised in another Member State; and
c
a company controlled by the same natural or legal persons as those that control another AIFM, a UCITS management company, an investment firm, a credit institution or an insurance undertaking authorised in another Member State.
3
The competent authorities of the home Member State of the AIFM shall refuse authorisation where the effective exercise of their supervisory functions is prevented by any of the following:
a
close links between the AIFM and other natural or legal persons;
b
the laws, regulations or administrative provisions of a third country governing natural or legal persons with which the AIFM has close links;
c
difficulties involved in the enforcement of those laws, regulations and administrative provisions.
4
The competent authorities of the home Member State of the AIFM may restrict the scope of the authorisation, in particular as regards the investment strategies of AIFs the AIFM is allowed to manage.
5
The competent authorities of the home Member State of the AIFM shall inform the applicant in writing within 3 months of the submission of a complete application, whether or not authorisation has been granted. The competent authorities may prolong this period for up to three additional months, where they consider it necessary due to the specific circumstances of the case and after having notified the AIFM accordingly.
For the purpose of this paragraph an application is deemed complete if the AIFM has at least submitted the information referred to in points (a) to (d) of Article 7(2) and points (a) and (b) of Article 7(3).
AIFMs may start managing AIFs with investment strategies described in the application in accordance with point (a) of Article 7(3) in their home Member State as soon as the authorisation is granted, but not earlier than 1 month after having submitted any missing information referred to in point (e) of Article 7(2) and points (c), (d) and (e) of Article 7(3).
6
In order to ensure consistent harmonisation of this Article, ESMA may develop draft regulatory technical standards to specify the:
a
requirements applicable to the AIFMs under paragraph 3;
b
requirements applicable to shareholders and members with qualifying holdings referred to in point (d) of paragraph 1;
c
obstacles which may prevent effective exercise of the supervisory functions of the competent authorities.
Power is delegated to the Commission to adopt the regulatory technical standards referred to in the first subparagraph in accordance with Articles 10 to 14 of Regulation (EU) No 1095/2010.