FT: Geithner warns of rift over AIFM regulation
11 March 2010
The Financial Times reports that Mr Geithner warns that US hedge funds, private equity groups and banks could be discriminated against if proposals to restrict the access of EU investors to funds based outside the 27-country bloc are included in the final law.
Tim Geithner, US Treasury secretary, has delivered a blunt warning to the European Commission that its plans to regulate the hedge fund and private equity industriescould cause a transatlantic rift by discriminating against US groups.
The debate over the shape of future financial regulation has reached a critical point in Brussels. Diplomats were on Wednesday night moving closer to a compromise on the sweeping overhaul that has angered the industry and worried institutional investors.
The draft EU directive would impose tighter restrictions on hedge funds, private equity and other alternative investment funds. It has caused alarm in the City of London, where some in the industry say it is a thinly veiled attempt by France and Germany to undermine the UK’s dominance of financial services.
Mr Geithner warns that US hedge funds, private equity groups and banks could be discriminated against if proposals to restrict the access of EU investors to funds based outside the 27-country bloc are included in the final law.
© Financial Times
