CEE Initiative

The Hungarian association BAMOSZ and the Austrian association VÖIG initiated a closer collaboration and tighter co-operation between fund associations in CEE, the so-called „CEE Initiative“.

The member associations of the „CEE Initiative“ represent the following countries (in alphabetical order): Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Poland*, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine.

The first formal meeting was held in Budapest in 2009, followed by annual meetings in 2010 in Bucharest, 2011 in Kyiv, 2012 in Brussels, 2013 in Vienna, 2014 in Bucharest again, 2015 in Ljubljana and 2016 in Sofia (see the Kyiv 2011 meeting press release and the MoUs signed as well as the UAIB presentations for the later meetings attached below).

Ukrainian Association of Investment Business (UAIB) joinedthe Memorandum of Understanding between associations of investment funds and assets managers of the Central and Eastern Europe. Signing the document on the principles of cooperation between the trade unions was part of the 2nd Meeting of the CEE group which was held on 8-9 November 2010 in Bucharest. Memorandum provides coordination, exchange of experience and information on the development and national initiatives on asset management activities and collective investment, the specific investment products and the respective regulatory environment as well as improving the culture of investing in the participating countries.

The 2012 annual meeting took place in Brussels upon invitation by the European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA), which has observer status in this initiative. In particular this observer status reflects the interest of the European fund industry in the CEE region.

It is typical for most of the investment fund markets in the CEE region that they are rather small in size but have been developing impressively over the last years. In particular those countries, that are members of the European Union, are engaged in increasing harmonization of investment fund law in the context of both the UCITS as well as the AIFMD framework experience which further increases similarities in the region. However, a special feature of the CEE region is its diversity because out of the above mentioned countries, nine are already EU member states, while Ukraine has signed the Association Agreement with the EU (June 2014, provisionally applicable as from 1st January 2016).

Consequently, the structure and development of the investment fund markets in the region evolve with different speed, intensity and knowledge. In addition to this, different legal frameworks shape the respective markets. Moreover, the different national implementation of EU investment fund law and in particular the diverging interpretation of these rules by national supervisory bodies constitutes significant challenges for management companies that are active in numerous CEE markets. Therefore, the visibility of the CEE region is not granted in terms of both, market structure and regulatory oversight.

The „CEE Initiative“ proved to be successful right from its beginning since it stimulated a regular and much closer communication, exchange of views and better coordination among the contributing parties. In addition to this, the initiative helped to strengthen the ties between UAIB and EFAMA which culminated in the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the two parties.

Aside from this, the members of the „CEE Initiative“ intend to strengthen their collaboration and co-operation in four key areas. First, the promotion of the CEE region has to be strengthened, in particular against the background, that the region itself is not always clearly identified and visible. Second, the increasing communication between the members shall enable them to find commonalities within the region and thereby strengthen their collaboration. Third, the improvement of the knowledge and the better understanding of the CEE region shall be ensured by collecting data reflecting the economics of the region. Finally, the members agreed to better promote long-term savings in the region and thereby also relying on academic knowledge and specific expertise to properly reflect the specific regional needs.

The member associations (along with the UAIB):

• Austrian Association of Investment Fund Management Companies (VÖIG)
• Bulgarian Association of Asset Management Companies (BAAMC)
• Association of Investment Fund Management Companies (Croatian Chamber of Economy, HGK)
• Czech Capital Market Association (The Association of Funds and Asset Management of the Czech Republic, AKAT)
• Hellenic Fund and Asset Management Association (E.T.H.E.)
• Association of Hungarian Investment Fund And Asset Management Companies (BAMOSZ)
• Romanian Association of Asset Managers (AAF)
• Slovak Association of Fund Management Companies (SASS)
• Slovenian Investment Fund Association (ZDU)
• European Funds and Asset Management Association (EFAMA) (observer)

• Currently, the Polish Association is not a member of the group and has withdrawn from EFAMA