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I am interested in a legal question regarding the Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/653. It concerns the question of whether an open-ended real estate fund in the form of a PRIIP must state the risk in its key information document as category 6 (MRM class 6) or whether it may state a lower MRM class such as 2 or 3. In the case of the open-ended real estate fund in question, the value of the properties is not calculated or determined on a monthly basis, but on a quarterly basis. There is also no separate benchmark and no separate proxy. Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/653 states: “(4) Category 1 includes the following: (a) PRIIPs where investors could lose more than the amount invested; (b) PRIIPs falling within one of the categories set out in points 4 to 10 of Section C of Annex I to Directive 2014165/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (' ) (c) PRIIPs or underlying investments of PRIIPs which are not priced at least monthly or which do not have an appropriate benchmark or proxy or whose appropriate benchmark or proxy is not priced at least monthly. [...] B. The MRM class for Category 1 PRIIPs is 7, with the exception of the PRIIPs referred to in point 4(c) of this Annex, where the MRM class is 6.” I am mainly concerned with the understanding of a particular word, namely the word “price” in Annex II Part 1 point 4. c). I would be interested to know whether “price” means the issue or redemption price of a unit certificate of an open-ended real estate fund, which revaluates the net assets of the real estate fund on each trading day, or does “price” mean that the value of the real estate itself must be determined monthly? An answer in the Q&A of the Joint Committee (there III.A.16) sounds as if the issue or repurchase price is not to be understood as such. What is the legal quality of the Q&A and who answers the questions posed there? Are the answers in the Q&A binding? May or must they even be used when interpreting the text of the regulation?

The interpretation of the term “price” in Annex II 4. c) ultimately depends on the very important question for the consumer as to whether, for example, an open-ended real estate fund that only has its properties valued once every three months is to be classified in risk class 2/3 or 6, which would be a major risk warning for a consumer.