The FT reports that controversial draft regulations for hedge funds will be substantially amended, according to the new head of the European parliament??s economic and monetary affairs committee.Sharon Bowles, British MEP and new chair of the committee, said European pension funds and institutional investors faced ??excommunication? from global capital markets if the draft directive on alternative investment funds was implemented unchanged.
The proposals would require alternative fund managers, rather than funds themselves, to register and seek authorisation for the first time. Fund managers would also have to meet reporting, governance and risk management standards, including minimum capital requirements.
Ms Bowles said there had been ??enormous pressure on the [European] Commission to come forward with measures that inspire public confidence?.
There was a risk of ??unintended consequences? to the draft directive. ??Now we have to fix bits to make it workable,? she said.
??The directive is not only about hedge funds and private equity ?? it covers everything in between,? she said, adding that mainstream investors needed to ??make themselves heard?.
