Speech McCreevy: Commission Hearing on Investment Funds

13 October 2005

Addressing to the Commission hearing on Investment Funds (UCITS) in Brussels, Commissioner McCreevy said the industry must come up with good reasons for fresh legislation and that improvements to current rules were the order of the day for now. “There is no need for a heavy-handed legislative intervention”, the Commissioner said. “I hope we can do more to remove unnecessary obstacles to the registration and offer of investments to institutional investors – without triggering new legislative procedures. We have no intention of sheltering fund managers from competition” he continued.

McCreevy said Brussels and national regulators are working flat out to apply the UCITS rules better as some divergences were 'hard coded' into national law. Next year the executive will issue legally binding guides on what assets can be included in a UCITS fund.

The next 12 months will be all about assessing the case for change. The Commission is currently working on a White Paper which will be published around this time next year.

Full speech

© European Commission