Luxembourg announces first EuVECA passport registration

The fund manager, whose identity was not disclosed, filed its registration documents with the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF) on 18 June 2015.

The EuVECA vehicle is the 27th to be approved across the EU since coming into force on 22 July 2013. The UK accounts for the bulk of the registrations, with 13 structures created to date. Notable funds include the £50m Amadeus IV Early Stage vehicle and the $150m Amadeus IV Digital Prosperity fund; Environmental Technologies also registered ET Fund, ET Fund 2 and ET Associates Fund.

Next up is Germany, where Munich-headquartered Pinova Capital domiciled four of all five EuVECA vehicles in the country. Denmark and the Netherlands are tied in third position with three funds in each jurisdiction; the former features VCs such as NorthCap Partners and New Energy Solutions Management, while the latter includes funds managed by Life Sciences Partners and Thuja Capital management.

France and Latvia close the ranks with Breega Capital's Venture One fund and SIA EuVECA Livonia Partners Fund 1, respectively.

Feeble VC appetite
EuVECA is part of a regulatory sweep by the EU authorities in 2013 which featured an Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) which has since been transposed to most EU countries.

The VC-focused passport was created as an additional, voluntary tool meant to ease the AIFMD regulatory requirements for venture capitalists wishing to market their vehicles across all member states. Its advantages include lower entry thresholds, simplified compliance procedures and alleviated fund setup costs for passport-seeking managers, provided they dedicate 70% of all commitments raised to backing innovative startups and SMEs.

According to LPEA, the benefits that EuVECA entails have not been sufficient to awaken the interest of fund managers in the EU. Luxembourg's private equity body attributes the lack of response to EU VC firms managing smaller portfolios than players in markets such as North America and thus lacking the weight to operate beyond the local and regional level.

SCSp-driven AIFMD surge
The picture provides a stark contrast with AIFMD passport-backed funds in Luxembourg, with a surge of vehicles being established under the new directive in the country reported by unquote" in May.

Speaking at the Alfi and LPEA Roadshow in London in April, PwC partner Valérie Tixier linked the upwards trend to the creation of the new LP structure société en commandite simple (SCS) and, in particular, the société en commandite spéciale (SCSp). The latter has proved to be the most popular, with 579 SCSp structures being registered with the country's authorities since their creation in July 2013.

At the time, Tixier explained to unquote" that the new structure's flexibility and cheaper costs were luring a greater diversity of players to Luxembourg, with big European and US private equity names domiciling vehicles in the country.

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Send to  

• Topics
• Benelux
• Fundraising
• Regulation
• Luxembourg