The costs and complexities of meeting the European Union’s Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive have been well-documented for fund managers, but providers of depository services such as safekeeping of assets and cash monitoring also face a raft of new requirements.

AIFMD requires them to extend their controls over the funds they service, as well as assume greater liabilities, which means bigger risks and higher costs, which are unlikely to be absorbed by funds and fund investors alone. Eric Derobert, head of public affairs at Caceis, a European provider of depository banks services, said: "Market forces - and competition - may mean that the full cost of AIFMD will be split across the value chain and not passed on 100% to end-investors."