AIMA

03 September 2009

The Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA) – the global hedge fund industry association – has congratulated the Rapporteur and Shadow Rapporteurs for the European Commission’s Alternative Investment Fund Managers (AIFM) directive on their appointment.

Jean-Paul Gauzès, the European People’s Party’s representative for North Western France, has been appointed as the AIFM directive’s Rapporteur and will guide the directive through the European Parliament. AIMA has also congratulated Wolf Klinz (ALDE), Syed Kamall (ECR) and Pascal Canfin (Greens/European Free Alliance) on their appointment as Shadow Rapporteurs. The final Shadow Rapporteur for the S&D will be appointed next week.

AIMA is campaigning for the draft directive in its current form to be substantially revised. The association welcomes the parts of the directive which relate to the G20 process, such as the reporting of systemically relevant data by managers to their national supervisors and the registration and authorisation of managers. But AIMA has argued that there are other elements of the directive - such as those relating to leverage, depositaries and marketing - which have been poorly drafted and which will have many unintended and potentially damaging consequences.

Florence Lombard, AIMA’s Executive Director, said: “We look forward to working with Europe’s parliamentarians on the directive. We hope that it will be possible to secure appropriate EU-level regulation of the alternative investment management industry in Europe and effective structures for the reporting of systemically relevant data in the broader interests of financial stability, while at the same time ensuring that Europe’s competitiveness in financial services and as a destination for international investment is not compromised. Nor should this lead to negative consequences in terms of pensions, savings, commercial real estate and jobs for the economies of the Union’s member states.” 

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For media enquiries, please contact Christen Thomson, AIMA Director of Communications, on +44 (0)20 7822 8380; email – cthomson@aima.org

About AIMA
As the only truly representative global hedge fund association, AIMA, the Alternative Investment Management Association, has more than 1,100 corporate members worldwide, based in over 40 countries.

Members include leading hedge fund managers, fund of hedge funds managers, prime brokers, legal and accounting firms and fund administrators.  They all benefit from AIMA’s active influence in policy development, its leadership in industry initiatives, including education and sound practice manuals and its excellent reputation with regulators worldwide.

AIMA is a dynamic organisation that reflects its members’ interests and provides them with a vibrant global network. AIMA is committed to developing industry skills and education standards and is a co-founder of the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst designation (CAIA) – the industry’s first and only specialised educational standard for alternative investment specialists. For further information, please visit AIMA’s website, www.aima.org.

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