As many as 95 percent of affected firms are “concerned” about the time scale of implementation of the Packaged Retail and Insurance Based Products (PRIIPS) regulation, according to a KNEIP survey.
Final regulatory technical standards (RTS) for the Key Investor Information Document (KIID) required for PRIIPS was released by ESMA in early April, however firms only have until 31 December to be compliant.
The research was conducted during a series of working groups and included asset managers, bank and insurers from London, Luxembourg and Frankfurt.
According to KNEIP, the research also found that the main concerns around PRIIPs are future performance testing and on-going fee disclosures, which were cited as issues by 33 percent and 30 percent of respondents, respectively.
This was followed by calculation of risk indicators, cited as an issue by 19 percent, while 13 percent names issues around target market as their main concern.
Mario Mantrisi, senior adviser to the CEO at KNEIP said: “The timeframe was a sizeable challenge from the beginning. However, with the release of the level II RTS, which varies considerably from the initial issued guidelines in several areas, the timeframe has become for many a seemingly unattainable objective.”
The new standards state that fund managers must provide information on how a fund could perform in various circumstances.
“This has proven a challenge for the industry, as previously information was only required on past performance scenarios,” Mantrisi said.
He added, however, that the deadline is unlikely to change. He said: “This means that in many circumstances, fund managers will have to provide this information by the end of 2016, and will benefit most now from concentrating their energy on finding pragmatic ways of doing whatever it takes to meet the deadline.”
