The Parliament Magazine published stakeholders’ view on the AIMFD
10 April 2010
The AIMFD coverage includes five short articles written by ECON rapporteur Jean-Paul Gauzès (EPP/FR); Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, the president of the Party of European Socialists; Syed Kamall (ECR/UK); Javier Echerri, Secretary General of EVCA and Andrew Baker of AIMA.
According to Gauzès, the postponement of the decision on the Spanish presidency’s compromise text in Ecofin has clearly raised the profile of the European Parliament in the process. Gauzès is confident that an internal agreement will be reached before the vote in ECON on 27 April. “In the Parliament there appears to be a majority consensus forming that accepts the need for ‘passports’ for managers and funds located in third countries.”
Rasmussen advocates for stringent legislation on AIFM, states that “it is now clearly established that hedge funds activities have been one of the major causes of the financial crisis.” He criticizes the industry’s lobbying activities and the labeling of the AIFMD as “protectionist.” He argues in favour of the application of equivalence rules for both EU and non-EU funds to increase transparency and to make it easier for others to follow the EU.
Kamall strongly disagrees and is “discouraged by efforts in Parliament to ban European investors investing in funds located in jurisdictions that are not deemed to be “equivalent with EU law.” He warns that this could ultimately hurt pensioners, cut off capital for innovation and the European economy.
© The Parliament Magazine
