On 2 October 2012 the Lower House of the Dutch Parliament adopted a bill providing for the implementation of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (the "AIFMD") in Dutch law.
At the same session in which the bill was adopted, the Lower House adopted an amendment. The amendment provides for an exception from the rules set forth in the AIFMD-bill for managers of investment funds in which the units or shares can solely be acquired by pension funds.
Prior to the vote on the amendment, the Minister of Finance advised against the adoption of the amendment for three reasons: (i) in his view, the supervision on said investment fund managers is of added value; (ii) the exception would breach the level playing field for alternative investment fund managers; and (iii) the amendment is premature in that it fails to await a possible interpretation of the European Commission in respect of the scope of the AIFMD. According to the Minister, the European Commission may determine that the scope of the AIFMD does include managers of investment funds that exclusively offer shares or units to pension funds. In such event, adoption of the amendment could lead to an infringement procedure. The Lower House of the Dutch Parliament, however, disregarded the advice of the Minister and adopted the amendment.
The bill has now been submitted to the Upper Chamber of Parliament.
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