Global Trustee and Fiduciary Services News and Views

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Global Trustee and Fiduciary Services News and Views | Issue 47 | 2017 65
and investment companies: for instance, that
contractual funds cannot be subject to collective
insolvency proceedings, which the proposals
explicitly countenance for investment companies.10
The Swedish Private Equity & Venture Capital
Association (SVCA) also embraced the proposals
and urged that the investment company model
be extended to include alternative investment
funds, and that this be made in a flexible
manner that would genuinely enhance the
attractiveness of the Swedish funds market.11
The Swedish Bankers’ Association (Svenska
Bankföreningen) added its support to the
proposals and stressed that care should be
taken to ensure that investment companies,
as a fund format, could hold their own
in competition with other leading funds
jurisdictions.12
The Swedish Investment Fund Assocation
(Fondbolagens Förening) strongly endorsed
the proposals for investment company rules.
Although the association agreed that a
piecemeal introduction of the new structure
would be advantageous, it queried the
arguments mooted by the 2014 Committee
against umbrella funds.13
The Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority
(Finansinspektionen) expressed cautious
support for the idea of corporate investment
funds, but it did not think the current proposals
were sufficiently thought through to be made
into law. In particular, the authority criticises
the 2014 Committee for having paid insufficient
attention to the AIFMD rules. Interestingly,
the authority is concerned that some of the
proposals may render investment companies
insufficiently attractive, especially in the form
of internally managed funds.14
The Central Bank (Riksbanken) is also
cautiously optimistic, but it calls for further
work on the proposed investment company
legislation before the proposals are enacted,
in particular in respect of initial capital
and insolvency (echoing some of the Bar
Association’s concerns).
Given the mixed consultation results — in
particular, perhaps, from the Swedish Financial
Supervisory Authority and the Central Bank
— it is unclear whether the proposed act on
investment companies will be introduced, at
least in the very near term and in the form
of the proposals. However, there seems to
1 See Dir. 2014:139.
2 See Dir. 2014:158.
3 See Dir. 2015:28.
4 See Dir. 2015:109 for deadline, and SOU 2015:62 for report.
5 See SOU 2016:45.
6 See SOU 2002:56.
7 Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive.
8 See D. Hanqvist, Lagen om förvaltare av alternativa
investeringsfonder. En kommentar, Wollters Kluwer (2016),
p. 168 and 186.
9 See Hanqvist (2016), p. 284 et seq. and (especially in
respect of liability issues) H. Tsikhanava, “Alternativa
investeringsfonder och organs skadeståndsansvar — En
regleringsteknisk röra?”, Master of Law Dissertation, Spring
Semester 2016, University of Stockholm Law Faculty.
10 See
advokatsamfundet_sv/remissvar/571462_20161108165910.pdf,
last downloaded on 1 December 2016.
11 See
upload/kwq6cn1hxi6k4p1gnpfq.pdf, last downloaded
on 1 December 2016.
12 See
Konkurrenskraftig%20fondmarknad.pdf, last downloaded
on 1 December 2016.
13 See
Remissyttranden/2016/Dokument/Remissvar-avseende-
betankandet-En-hallbar-transparent-och-konkurrenskraftig-
fondmarknad-SOU-201645-Fi201602541V/, last accessed on
1 December 2016.
14 See
Yttrande-over-slutbetankandet-En-hallbar-transparent-
och-konkurrenskraftig-fondmarknad/, last accessed on 1
December 2016,
15 See
remiss_FiD_161107.pdf, last downloaded on 1 December 2016.
have occurred a change in the consensus
that corporate funds are indeed desirable in
principle, and that they should not be limited
to UCITS funds.
The great elephant in the room, however, is
taxation. The 2014 Committee was not asked
to look into the taxation of investment funds.
Among market participants it is widely thought
that, whatever reforms might be introduced
in other respects, the real crunch as regards
reviving the Swedish fund market is tax reform.
However, there currently seems to be very little
political appetite for that type of reform.
Dan Hanqvist
Finance & Regulatory Counsel
Roschier