On the 21^st July 2015, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published updated questions and answers on the application of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD). This latest update includes additional guidance on reporting to national authorities and the calculation of the total value of AUM.

This latest update includes additional guidance on reporting to national authorities and the calculation of the total value of AUM

Accordingly, the updated Q&A document clarifies, inter alia, how AIFMs should convert the total value of assets under management into Euro and, to this end, provides that AIFMs should use the rounded values of the AIFs in the base currency of the AIFs and divide these rounded values by the corresponding value of one Euro into the base currency of the AIFs. Moreover the updated ESMA document confirms that (i) AIFMs should report the rounded values in the base currency and in Euro in questions 33 and 34 of the consolidated reporting template for AIFM-specific information and in question 48 of the consolidated reporting template for AIF-specific information; and (ii) AIFMs should also report the value of the exchange rate used for the conversion in question 37 of the consolidated reporting template for AIFM-specific information and in question 50 of the consolidated reporting template for AIF-specific information.

ESMA has also clarified that, whilst AIFMs should not report any information on AIFs for the reporting period during which the AIFs were created, AIFMs should include AIFs created during the reporting period in the total value of assets under management of the AIFM for that reporting period. This effectively means that the total value of AUM at the level of the AIFM at the reporting date will not be the sum of the values of AUM of the AIFs reported for that reporting period.

ESMA’s full Q&A document is publicly available for download from its official website.