AIMA

20 November 2008

The Alternative Investment Management Association (“AIMA”), the leading industry body for the global hedge fund industry, has today released its latest Market Ethics Guidance Note to members.

The AIMA Market Ethics Guidance Note is aimed at front office, legal and compliance professionals in hedge fund management companies, and is an updated version of the Guidance Note published in October 2007. It sets out, by way of a number of scenarios commonly encountered by hedge fund managers, the issues which staff should consider in order to avoid the risk of dealing on the basis of inside information.

The expansion by European hedge fund managers into business areas such as secondary market loan trading, private equity-style investing, and shareholder activism has resulted in increased scrutiny from the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and other European regulators of how hedge fund managers use the information they acquire in the course of business activity.

The Guidance Note was developed by AIMA’s Market Ethics Working Group, which was formed in February 2007 to help AIMA’s members better understand the applicable rules in this area, which are complex and open to misinterpretation. The group comprises representatives from AIMA member firms, including several of the leading law firms advising on market abuse and insider dealing issues.

In tandem with the Market Ethics Working Group, AIMA’s dedicated Hedge Fund Manager Training Programme has been extremely successful.  Over 350 hedge fund professionals have registered to attend one or more modules of the programme since its launch in January 2008.

Andrew Baker, Deputy Chief Executive of AIMA, commented: “AIMA fully supports the FSA’s work in the area of market abuse and insider dealing. Our Hedge Fund Training Programme was developed in direct response to concerns highlighted by the FSA in its Market Watch 24 last year, and AIMA has been working actively to increase our members’ understanding and awareness of the relevant regulations. The latest Market Ethics Guidance Note is further demonstration of the value AIMA places on ensuring high industry standards.”

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Eoin Brophy or Evan DeBarra (Hume Brophy)
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7499 8736
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Editors’ Notes

1. About AIMA

As the only truly representative global hedge fund association, AIMA, the Alternative Investment Management Association, has 1,280 corporate members worldwide, based in 47 countries.

Members include leading hedge fund managers, fund of hedge funds managers, prime brokers, legal and accounting services 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 membership’s 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

2. About the AIMA Market Ethics Working Group

The members of the 2008 Working Group are:
  

• Sarah Bowles, Simmons & Simmons (Chair)
• Darren Fox, Simmons & Simmons
• Jon May, Marshall Wace LLP
• Ian Mason, Barlow Lyde & Gilbert
• Emily Benson, Barlow Lyde & Gilbert
• Jonathan Marsh, Berwin Leighton Paisner LLP
• Charles Olver, BlueCrest Capital Management Limited
• Carmen Reynolds, White & Case LLP
• Matthew Jones, AIMA

 

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