German financial regulator BaFin has “alarmed” the European real estate sector with controversial proposals for REITs.

 

BaFin has proposed German REITs should be regulated as investment funds under the European Union’s Alternative Investment Fund Mangers Directive which takes effect in July. The European Public Real Estate Association fears BaFin’s proposals, which would bar many equity funds from investing in REITS unless they are created as “funds of funds”, could be adopted by several other European regulators.