On 23 August 2018, the Luxembourg supervisory authority of the financial sector, the CSSF, published a new circular, Circular 18/697 (the “Circular”), which is addressed to Luxembourg credit institutions, investment firms and certain professionals of the financial sector acting as depositaries for non-UCITS. The majority of the rules set out in the new Circular supplement the Luxembourg AIFM Law and Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 231/2013 with regard to depositaries (the “AIFMD level 2 measures”). They clarify the organisational requirements and the best practices to be followed by Luxembourg professionals when acting as depositaries.

The new Circular not only provides a set of regulatory requirements clarifying certain rules provided by the Luxembourg AIFM Law and the AIFMD level 2 measures, but also provides clarification on certain aspects beyond these rules by notably providing guidance to be followed by depositaries when servicing investment funds investing in some of the non-traditional assets (e.g. real estate, non-listed companies, tangible assets, financial derivative instruments, etc.).

The new Circular will enter into force on 1 January 2019.