The most important facts in brief
From 30 April 2024, Regulation (EU) 2022/1917 of the European Central Bank (ECB) on infringement procedures in cases of non-compliance with statistical reporting requirements in connection with the monthly reports to the German Bundesbank will apply. In practice, this means:
- AIFMs are obliged to submit monthly reports to the German Bundesbank for each AIF by the fifth business day of the following month.
- Infringements may be sanctioned as of 30 April 2024.
- The German Bundesbank is obliged to report infringements to the ECB.
- AIFMs should now review and, if necessary, update their reporting processes.
The new regulations in detail
Alternative investment fund managers are obliged to submit monthly reports to the German Bundesbank for statistical purposes for each investment fund they set up (i.e. including, in particular, AIFs). These reports must include information on the amount and composition of the fund assets and must be submitted by the fifth business day of the following month.
In particular, the German Bundesbank must inform the ECB of repeated failure to submit and of incorrect or late submission of monthly reports (so-called infringement).
The reporting agent will be informed by the German Bundesbank of the nature of the alleged infringements and the possibility of initiating an infringement procedure.
The reporting agent may then submit a remedial plan setting out, among others, the reasons for the infringement and the remedial measures to be taken. Such a remedial plan must be implemented within 60 days of approval by the German Bundesbank.
If the submitted remedial plan is repeatedly rejected by the German Bundesbank or the approved remedial plan is not implemented by the reporting agent, the German Bundesbank will generally initiate an infringement procedure in which a sanction may be imposed.
The calculation of the sanction amount in the event of a breach of the statistical reporting obligations will be based on a methodology set out in the associated ECB decision and will consider the economic size of the reporting agent as well as the frequency and duration of the breach. The maximum fine is EUR 200,000.
In order to submit the reports, the respective investment funds must be registered once with the German Bundesbank and apply for a so-called Bundesbank-Instituts-ID.
Depending on the investment focus and size of the AIF, the reports can be submitted either via an input mask in the statistics reporting portal (Allgemeines Meldeportal Statistik – AMS) or in XML format via the ExtraNet platform of the German Bundesbank.