The European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA) has welcomed the vote by the European Parliament plenary formally adopting two ‘quick fixes’ for PRIIPs (Packaged retail investments and insurance-based products) and UCITS (Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities).

Following the council’s recent approval, the co-legislators confirmed that funds already producing a UCITS Key Investor Information Document (KIID) will now have until 31 December 2022 to produce a PRIIP Key Information Document (KID). The body also welcomed the confirmation that a UCITS KIID is no longer required as long as a PRIIP KID is produced.

EFAMA stated that it is now necessary for the European Commission to swiftly align the application date of the outstanding PRIIPs Technical Standards (RTS). The alignment is necessary to ensure one overall application date for the new measures. Time is of the essence as the RTS must be published in the EU Official Journal together with the ‘quick fixes’ before year-end, allowing our members sufficient time to prepare the PRIIPs KIDs for end investors.

PRIIPS has been a headache for a number of groups since it began its piecemeal introduction in 2018. The regulation was rejected by the European Parliament when it implementation was first attempted due to concerns over the ‘future scenarios’ that replace past performance in the investment guides (despite being entirely based on them).

The Association of Investment Companies (for it was trusts that this ‘elephant gun’ of regulation was first let loose on) was up in arms as its members were concerned about what they viewed were unrealistic scenarios even after it was sent back for a rehash. For instance, some trusts were compelled to write that investors could still have reasonable gains even in a down market. Is this just the latest part of the saga of are we finally seeing this troublesome EU regulation gaining some traction?