[ESMA34-43-392 UCITS Q&A, Section IV, Q&A 10]

No. The UCITS passporting regime is linked to the management of UCITS by UCITS management companies on a cross-border basis. Pursuant to Articles 5 and 6 of the UCITS Directive, UCITS management companies are authorised to manage collective investment undertakings and to perform the activities referred to in Annex II to the UCITS Directive. Pursuant to Article 17(2), point (b), and Article18(1), point (b), of the UCITS Directive, a UCITS management company intending to manage UCITS established in another Member State, either directly or through the creation of a branch in another Member State, shall communicate to the competent authorities of its home Member State a program of operations referring to the services it intends to provide. That requirement cannot be interpreted otherwise than referring to investment management foremost, whereas auxiliary services remain as such auxiliary and are to be performed only in relation to the management of a UCITS.

The answers provided by the European Commission clarify provisions already contained in the applicable legislation. They do not extend in any way the rights and obligations deriving from such legislation nor do they introduce any additional requirements for the concerned operators and competent authorities. The answers are merely intended to assist natural or legal persons, including competent authorities and Union institutions and bodies in clarifying the application or implementation of the relevant legal provisions. Only the Court of Justice of the European Union is competent to authoritatively interpret Union law. The views expressed in the internal Commission Decision cannot prejudge the position that the European Commission might take before the Union and national courts.