ASF approved the draft Regulation amending and supplementing ASF Regulation No. 7/2020 on the authorization and operation of alternative investment funds

Bucharest, 2 October 2025 – The Council of the Financial Supervisory Authority (ASF) approved, in yesterday's meeting, the draft Regulation amending and supplementing ASF Regulation No. 7/2020 on the authorization and operation of alternative investment funds, with a view to publishing it for public consultation on the ASF website for a period of 10 calendar days.

The draft Regulation contains clarifying provisions for the application of certain provisions of Law No. 243/2019 on alternative investment funds (AIFs), as amended by Government Emergency Ordinance No. 71/2024, as well as issues identified in the practice of applying AIF-specific legislation. The purpose of the draft is to provide greater clarity and predictability in the application of the legal framework, for the benefit of market participants, but also to simplify and standardize the procedures for authorizing and operating alternative investment funds, reducing the risk of inconsistent interpretations and contributing to increased protection for investors in securities issued by alternative investment funds.  

Among the most important amendments to ASF Regulation No. 7/2020 are:

• Clarifying provisions are introduced in the application of certain provisions of Law No. 243/2019, Article 29, para. (4), according to which SAIF alternative investment funds may repurchase their own shares once during a financial year, up to a maximum of 10% of the share capital, in accordance with the conditions set out in para. (3) letters a) and b), the payment for the shares thus acquired shall be made only from the own sources of SAIF.

More specifically, these new provisions included in the draft regulation clarify that the phrase “carries out share buy-backs once during a financial year” refers to the conduct of a single public offer and/or transactions carried out on the regulated market during a specific period of a financial year. A financial year is understood to mean a calendar year. In addition, if the General Meeting of Shareholders of a SAIF adopts, during the same financial year or in different financial years, several resolutions on the repurchase of own shares, these transactions may be combined. These clarifications reduce the risk of divergent interpretations and increase the operational flexibility of the SAIF.

• Clarifying provisions are introduced regarding the possibility of changing the category in which an alternative investment fund intended for professional investors (AIFIP) is classified. Thus, an AIFIP that requests ASF to classify it in another category of AIFIP is subject to the authorization procedure in its capacity as a contractual alternative investment fund (CAIF) or FIAS alternative investment fund, as the case may be. These new provisions are intended to provide flexibility and clarity in the operation of alternative investment funds, allowing AIFIPs to change their category through a clearly regulated authorization procedure, which increases predictability.
• Additional provisions are introduced regarding the information/documents that an alternative investment fund manager (AIFM) must make available to ASF as part of the Authority's approval process for the third-country exchange, in the context of investments made by the AIF pursuant to Article 35 para. (1) letter (b) of Law No. 243/2019. These changes are intended to ensure greater clarity and transparency in the process of approving and evaluating a third-country stock exchange.
• Additional provisions are introduced regarding the language in which advertising communications addressed to investors in alternative investment funds intended for retail investors (AIFRI) are drafted. More specifically, advertising communications shall be in Romanian if AIFRI securities are distributed in Romania. This provision aims to increase the level of protection and accurate information for retail investors, providing non-discriminatory access to information and reducing the risk of misinterpretation.

The draft Regulation amending and supplementing ASF Regulation No. 7/2020 on the authorization and operation of alternative investment funds is available for public consultation here (in Romanian)