EurActiv.com – European Commission proposals to regulate alternative investment funds discriminate against private equity and favour direct competitors like sovereign wealth funds or maverick businessmen, Javier Echarri, secretary-general of the European Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (EVCA), told EurActiv in an interview.

"We are not against regulation, but it has to be fair," Echarri said, complaining that an EU draft directive on alternative investment funds will hit private equity firms in a disproportionate manner in comparison with other financial actors, further damaging the credit market "when most European companies are in desperate need for capital".

Read Complete Article

Tags: actors, alternative investment, businessmen, commission proposals, desperate need, draft directive, euractiv, evca, favour, investment-funds, maverick, nbsp, private equity firms, secretary general, venture capital association

Bloomberg – Hedge fund managers who run the largest 15 percent of portfolios in the European Union would have to report risks, debts and trading activities to regulators under a draft proposal to tighten oversight after the financial crisis.

The EU’s executive agency in Brussels is weighing plans to regulate “alternative investment fund managers” who oversee at least 250 million euros ($333 million). The measure also covers private-equity buyout firms.

The proposal answers calls from EU lawmakers for rules on all market actors, and from the Group of 20 nations for oversight of hedge funds large enough to put financial systems at risk. While the proposal, which may still be changed, excludes 85 percent of hedge fund managers, it would leave out 24 percent of their assets in the region, according to the commission.

Read Complete Article

Tags: 333 million, actors, alternative investment, assets, brussels, debts, draft proposal, european-union, executive agency, financial crisis, hedge-fund-managers, investment fund managers, lawmakers, oversight, portfolios, regulators, risk