Sharon Bowles MEP

Plenary speech on the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive

"Commissioner, colleagues,

"There have been long and difficult discussions on this directive, in committee, in trialogues, and variously in Member States with the media, with venture capitalists, and with fund managers of all types.

"Interestingly, Member States that were most concerned about hedge fund activity were also those that did not have any regulation of hedge fund managers, nor conduct of business rules to stop selling to retail investors of some products only appropriate for professional investors.

"Similarly, Member States most worried about asset stripping and hidden takeovers were ones without lower disclosure thresholds on shareholding, and without disclosure of contracts for difference.

"Now, wherever you are in the EU there will be protection, and that is right.

"In the supervisory architecture we have taken a big step towards a common rule book. The lesson of the AIFMD is that we must take steps to early sharing of best practice.

"So I say to the City, and to my own Member State the UK, be vigilant in promoting for export to Europe a full range of market regulation with which you already comply. The end product may not be the exactly the same, and so yes you will have to adjust and I am afraid that will entail some cost, but sharing this best practice, exporting ideas early, is the way to avoid the trauma of legislation done at a late stage.

"That said, the end result that we have is an open and reasonably balanced one, not divergent from company law norms. It is not perfect and certainly not as succinct as I would like, but in all the circumstances I endorse it as a good result and I thank personally Minister Reynders and Commission Barnier for their very important and active engagement in the trialogues."

ENDS