Commission appoints experts to investment fund groups

31 January 2006

The Commission appointed the members of two expert groups, one on market efficiency and the other on alternative investment funds, which will look at how the EU framework for investment funds could be improved. The experts were selected on the basis of nominations received from 13 European-level associations. Several meetings of the groups are planned before July this year. They will produce reports on their findings, for discussion with regulatory bodies and other interested stakeholders in order to test the implications of any recommendations from a broader public interest perspective. These reports and the reactions to them will feed into the Commission's White Paper on investment funds and related impact assessment work, scheduled for publication in October.

The Expert Group on Market Efficiency will provide hands-on commercial and technical perspective on UCITS. It will analyse and identify the main barriers on a number of issues including authorisation/notification, management company passport, fund mergers, and pooling, and will explore legal or regulatory solutions.

The Expert Group on Alternative Investment Funds will analyse the current organisation of the alternative investments business. It will examine whether operators in these asset classes are confronted with significant difficulties in organising their activities in the European marketplace, and explore whether these issues warrant attention from EU policy-makers.

Press release
List of eligible nominating associations

Expert Group on Investment fund Market Efficiency:
Terms of Reference
Commission Decision
Composition of the group

Expert Group on Alternative Investment Funds:
Terms of Reference
Commission Decision
Composition of the groups:
Sub group on Private Equity funds
Sub group on Hedge Funds

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