TITLE: France's Financial Markets Authority Intends to Comply with European Securities Guidelines on Liquidity Management
BODY:
On May 19, 2026, the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) announced its intention to apply the European Securities and Markets Authority's (ESMA) guidelines on liquidity management tools for undertakings for collective investment in transferable securities (UCITS) and open-ended alternative investment funds (AIFs) following completion of work to transpose the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive 2 (AIFM 2).
ESMA published the guidelines on March 12, 2026, with an entry into force date of April 16, 2026, coinciding with the application of Commission Delegated Regulations (EU) 2026/465 and 2026/466. For existing funds, the guidelines apply following a twelve-month transitional period, effective April 16, 2027. The guidelines establish procedures for selecting and calibrating liquidity management tools, managing liquidity risk, and mitigating risks to financial stability. The AIFM 2 Directive requires management companies to select at least two liquidity management tools (or at least one for money market funds) from: gates, extension of notice periods, redemption fees, swing pricing, dual pricing, anti-dilution levies, and redemptions in kind for professional investors. Two additional tools—suspension of subscriptions, redemptions and repayments, and asset ring-fencing mechanisms—may be activated on an exceptional basis without prior documentation when circumstances require protection of investor interests.
The ESMA guidelines structure liquidity management around four sections: general principles; quantitative data-based tools including suspension mechanisms and repayment in kind; anti-dilution tools including redemption fees and swing pricing; and asset ring-fencing mechanisms. The AMF will update France's national regulatory framework to incorporate these guidelines once transposition of Directive (EU) 2024/927 concludes.