US investment managers of alternative investment funds that filed notices in the United Kingdom (“UK”) in order to market the fund to UK investors before October 1, 2014 and that are subject to quarterly “Annex IV” reporting to the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK (the “FCA”) under AIFMD Article 24 are reminded that the first report must be filed by Saturday, January 31, 2015 (with the exception of funds-of-funds which must file their first reports by Sunday, February 15, 2015).
Reports should be submitted to the FCA through the online regulatory reporting system, GABRIEL. Although the filing is due on a Saturday (or Sunday in the case of a fund-of-funds) and GABRIEL does accept filings on the weekends between 1pm and 10 pm (EST)/8am and 5pm (GMT), there is no GABRIEL technical support available on the weekends. To avoid the possibility of being unable to resolve technical problems using GABRIEL on January 31, 2015 (or February 15, 2015 in the case of a fund-of funds), we recommend that investment managers take steps to submit their Annex IV report to the FCA no later than before the close of business (GMT) on Friday, January 30, 2015 (or by the same time on Friday, February 13, 2015 in the case of a fund-of-funds).
Investment managers that have not yet received codes from the FCA which are required to access GABRIEL should expect further communication from the FCA containing instructions on how to proceed with the reporting. There is currently no indication from the FCA that the above filing deadlines will be postponed.
If you have any questions, please contact your primary attorney at Seward & Kissel LLP. In addition, you may contact Olya Parkin, a member of our investment management alliance firm in the United Kingdom, Simmons & Simmons LLP. Olya regularly advises on transparency reporting and is currently in New York and can be reached at (212)-574-1677 or at olya.parkin@simmons-simmons.com.
If you have any questions regarding the matters covered in this memo, please contact any of the partners and counsel listed below or your primary attorney in Seward & Kissel’s Investment Management Group.