Investment managers operating across borders are facing a wave of regulatory change, with new disclosure obligations, revised marketing rules and updated registration frameworks now live or recently enacted across multiple jurisdictions.
Zeidler Group recently offered a global fund distribution update for May.
The most significant development at the European level is the end of the transposition deadline for AIFMD II, the directive amending the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive and the UCITS framework, which passed on 16 April 2026.
Financial market participants are now required to comply with its provisions in full. The directive introduces sweeping changes across a broad range of areas, including delegation and substance requirements, depositary arrangements, loan origination, liquidity management tools, reporting and disclosure obligations, national private placement regime requirements, and additional services that alternative investment fund managers may provide.
Notably, non-EU funds marketing into the EU now face tighter conditions, including a prohibition on funds domiciled in jurisdictions listed on the EU tax blacklist, and a requirement for OECD-compliant tax information exchange agreements to be in place.
In Asia, Taiwan’s Financial Services Commission and the Securities Investment Trust and Consulting Association have introduced new ESG disclosure obligations for foreign funds registered in the country.
Local agents for foreign ESG funds must now publish annual disclosures within two months of year-end, covering ESG portfolio compliance levels, benchmark screening differences where applicable, and stewardship activities including engagement and voting actions.
Separately, the fee for relying on the master legal opinion for Ireland and Luxembourg fund registration applications has risen sharply, from NTD 31,000 to NTD 60,000.
The distribution framework for offshore exchange-traded funds has also been revised, with offshore ETFs no longer permitted to be privately placed under safe harbour exemptions. On a more flexible note, non-securities funds, including private funds and those investing in asset classes such as gold, real estate, and commodities, may now be privately placed to Taiwanese investors through certain onshore private placement agents.
Bulgaria has introduced notification fees for EU UCITS funds marketing into the country, now set at EUR 250 per fund or, in the case of umbrella structures, EUR 250 per sub-fund.
In Germany, the Location Promotion Act, known locally as the Standortfördergesetz, came into force on 10 February 2026, with the stated aim of reducing bureaucratic burdens and strengthening Germany’s appeal as a financial centre.
For asset managers, the act offers increased flexibility in structuring investment funds, including the retention of tax qualification for investments in commercial partnerships.
In Ireland, the Consumer Protection Code 2025 took effect on 24 March 2026 after a 12-month implementation period. It applies to a broad range of regulated firms interacting with Irish consumers, including UCITS management companies, self-managed funds, distributors, and fund service providers, though MiFID service providers are largely outside its scope.
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