EC looks at fund regulation

The European Commission has announced is to take a closer look at investment fund regulation with the appointment of two expert groups specifically charged with examining current EU legislation. The two groups will convene on several occasions and in June will publish reports based on their research. The findings will then be discussed with the various regulatory bodies and other stakeholders to discuss the recommendations made.

The reports and the reactions will then form the basis of the Commission’s white paper on investment funds, which is due for publication in October 2006. The formation of the expert groups was proposed by the Commission’s Green Paper on investment funds published in July 2005, and the Commission called on European trade associations to nominate candidates in December 2005.

The first group will look at market efficiency, providing a commercial and technical point of view on issues relating to how retail investment funds work within the single market framework (UCITS.)

The second group, 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.

The Commission has invited representatives from the retail investor community, institutional and public/semi-public investors and the corporate world as observers to the work of the groups.