AIMA

AIMA appearance at UK Treasury Committee hearing

27 January 2009

“We are glad to have had the opportunity to give evidence to the Committee and are grateful for their interest in our industry. This enquiry is into the banking crisis and we wanted to stress to the Committee that the hedge fund industry certainly did not cause this crisis, and indeed has been badly impacted by it. We stressed to the Committee that the industry in the UK is fully regulated, that we are an integral and established part of the financial services sector of the UK economy and that the industry provides a significant number of jobs in Britain, some 40,000 in total.

We are aware of public concern about short selling and sought to reassure the Committee that the practice is regarded by senior regulators both in the UK and internationally as legitimate and helpful for the proper functioning of the market. It is also worth stressing that not all hedge funds use short shelling, and not all short selling is by hedge funds. We thank the Committee for their time and for the chance to offer evidence and remain at their disposal.”

Our submission to the Committee may be found in this document on their website (p183) here.