French Finance Minister Lagarde welcomed the compromise reached between finance ministers on AIFMD
20 October 2010
She said that France now expects the European Commission, ESMA and the European national supervisors to be extremely vigilant in assessing the fulfilment of these obligations in order to obtain the third country passport.
By meeting the commitments made at the G20 summit in Washington, the agreement reached by ECOFIN provides greater protection for European investors by supervision of hedge funds," said Christine Lagarde, Minister of Economy, Industry and Employment.
In the compromise reached in the Council, Christine Lagarde has obtained a reinforcement of the protection granted to investors in Europe because the third country passport will be subjected to stricter rules.
The draft directive includes some very important safeguards for investor protection and the fight against systemic risk:
· Governance rules for hedge funds;
· The possibility for national supervisors, in conjunction with ESMA and in specific cases, to set a ceiling on leverage for EU funds;
· The requirement for all funds to have a trustee domiciled in the country of funds to keep the assets and control the actions of the management company;
· Principles based on those set by the G20 in respect of remuneration, with a variable of at least 50% and a deferred payment;
· Improving transparency requirements imposed on investment funds and private equity firms in Europe.
