AIMA

AIMA statement on European Commission Directive

“We are very concerned about the manner in which the European Commission’s directive on the industry has been drafted.

It does not appear that the drafting of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive has been coordinated with the relevant international institutions. The G20 mandated the Financial Stability Board and IOSCO (International Organization of Securities Commissions) to look at these issues, and it is not clear how this directive will fit in with the new international architecture established by the G20.

The drafting of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive has been rushed through in a very tight timeframe without anything like the usual standards of consultation that we expect from the Commission. There certainly has been very little consultation with our industry and we are worried that measures could be proposed which are inappropriate for a complex and diverse industry such as ours.

We are also concerned that the process of drafting the directive has been subjected to undue political pressure. There has been much rhetoric from various political organisations on the directive, most of which appears designed to satisfy domestic audiences ahead of the forthcoming European elections rather than to secure an effective and sensible solution to identified problems.

The volume of political rhetoric has been particularly baffling given that all the major reports into the current crisis, including the de Larosiere report and the Turner Review, concluded that hedge funds played an absolutely peripheral role.

All of this is important because a flawed directive could have major negative consequences for several key European financial industries and directly affect tens of thousands of jobs in Europe.”

Florence Lombard, Executive Director

London, 23rd April 2009