1.Member States shall require management companies to act in the best interests of the UCITS they manage when placing orders to deal on behalf of the managed UCITS with other entities for execution, in the context of the management of their portfolios.
2.Member States shall ensure that management companies take all reasonable steps to obtain the best possible result for the UCITS taking into account price, costs, speed, likelihood of execution and settlement, size, nature or any other consideration relevant to the execution of the order. The relative importance of such factors shall be determined by reference to Article 25(2).
For those purposes, management companies shall establish and implement a policy to enable them to comply with the obligation referred to in the first subparagraph. The policy shall identify, in respect of each class of instruments, the entities with which the orders may be placed. The management company shall only enter into arrangements for execution where such arrangements are consistent with obligations laid down in this Article. Management companies shall make available to unit-holders appropriate information on the policy established in accordance with this paragraph and on any material changes to this policy.
3.Management companies shall monitor on a regular basis the effectiveness of the policy established in accordance with paragraph 2 and, in particular, the execution quality of the entities identified in that policy and, where appropriate, correct any deficiencies.
In addition, management companies shall review the policy on an annual basis. Such a review shall also be carried out whenever a material change occurs that affects the management company’s ability to continue to obtain the best possible result for the managed UCITS.
4.Management companies shall be able to demonstrate that they have placed orders on behalf of the UCITS in accordance with the policy established in accordance with paragraph 2.