Telegraph: UK leads 12-state rebellion against EC hedge fund rules

27 February 2013

Britain has been joined by 11 other countries in an extraordinary rebellion against the European Commission's high-handed approach to passing financial legislation.

Germany, Holland, Sweden and Austria are among 12 signatories of a strongly-worded complaint about the EC’s “opaque” handling of controversial hedge fund rules. The 12 Member States, including the UK, claim that the EC ignored technical advice from European and national regulators - “without explanation” - and passed the Alternative Investment Managers Directive (AIFM) in its own way.

The statement  comes too late to change the AIFM Directive, but it could be an important warning shot to the EC ahead of this week’s debate on bank bonus rules in Brussels. The EU wants to ban bonuses that are bigger than salaries in regulations that would create the toughest pay regime in the world.

The 12 countries claim that the AIFM Directive “departs from ESMA’s advice in a number of areas, without explanation”, even though that advice was “compiled through a transparent and thorough consultation process... from Europe’s supervisory authorites”.

The statement said the countries are “concerned about the manner in which the post-Lisbon process of produced delegated acts is being conducted”. They have demanded the EC listens more with Member States before passing financial rules and adopts a “more open and consultative approach in future".

Full article

European Council


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