Hedge fund rules may be beefed up: EU lawmaker

A draft European Union law to regulate the managers of hedge funds and other alternative investment funds may be strengthened despite fierce opposition from Britain and industry, a senior EU lawmaker said on Friday. The bloc's governments and the European Parliament have joint say on the measure which is part of wider EU and global efforts to learn from the crisis by shining a light and directly supervising all parts of the financial system.
Britain wants the rules diluted, saying they go too far and would damage the industry and Europe but Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, president of the EU assembly's socialist bloc, the second largest grouping after the centre right, was confident that some changes will make aspects tougher.
At a debate in London in which Rasmussen's arguments were often attacked by British financial services minister Paul Myners and hedge fund figures, the Dane said capital rules may be toughened and the funds themselves brought under the scope of the directive.
"I see changes on the capital requirements side - there needs to be a strengthening up of the capital requirements - and I see changes on the precise description of transparency," Rasmussen told reporters on the sidelines of a debate hosted by think tank Open Europe.
"I see changes on ensuring that the funds are covered also with the managers and we need to solve the problems of the offshore fund managers," the former Danish prime minister said, adding that such a move could mean Cayman-domiciled hedge funds would have to move onshore to be sold to EU investors.
As drafted, the thresholds for inclusion are 100 million euros of assets under management for hedge funds and 500 million euros of funds for private equity groups. "The threshold today is much too high. You don't need to be a superduper professional fund manager to create a solution and come below," Rasmussen said after the debate. One top hedge fund executive, who declined to be named in order to speak candidly, told Reuters he was "discouraged" by Rasmussen's comments.
The executive said suggestions by the Dane that smaller funds should be included under the new rules - to stop larger funds splitting and thereby slipping under the radar - showed he was "unconnected with the reality of asset management". Britain faces heavyweight opposition to diluting the rules. France wants stronger rules and Germany has also backed the need for tough regulation. Elena Salgado, the economy minister for Spain which takes up the EU presidency next January, told the UK Guardian newspaper she backed the draft measure.