Britannia Radio

This Danish socialist is trying to wipe out all the advantages of finding venture capital for new industries and developments.  He would cripple the whole private equity business and isolate Europe from the rest of the world.  The City of Lodon would be hardest hit but so wouldf industry azcross the whole of Europe.

Rasmussen must surely see that getting capital to businesses is a crucial worry right now.  His proposals would be another barrier.  But being a socialist he doesn't care about such things

It's odd that the Eujro-elections whose result was described as a victory for 'right wing' parties has thrown up so many socialists in key positions 

Christina

TELEGRAPH 12.9.09

Poul Nyrup Rasmussen agrees to assess cost of EU directive   - OR in the newspaper - - - -

EU ‘bogeyman’ to assess cost of alternative rules 

The European politician who confesses to being the "bogey man" of London's alternative investment sector has agreed to commission an official assessment of the cost of the controversial EU directive.

 

By Louise Armitstead

Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, the Socialist Party president who has conducted a two-year campaign for the first European Union regulations governing hedge funds and private equity firms, bowed to hostile pressure from industry experts at a public debate held in London.

In response to criticism that the proposals outlined in April had far too wide a scope, Mr Rasmussen, the former Danish prime minister, told a packed hall in the Guildhall: "We are prepared to do an impact assessment on this. I do not want unintended consequences, we want good regulations."

But he added that it was likely that the directive should be tightened, not relaxed. "This is a relatively mild directive."

Lord Myners, a fellow speaker at the event organised by the Policy Exchange, a public policy think-tank, said it sounded as if Mr Rasmussen already had the conclusions to the assessment:"The point of an assessment should be to establish the facts...there are times when facts are helpful for making policies," he said.  [There’s an acid remark if ever I heard one! -cs] 

Jonathan Russell, chairman of the European Private Equity and Venture Capital Association, who was also on the panel, said: "There has been a lamentable lack of consultation throughout the short life ofthis legislation which - as it is currently drafted - penalises the private equity sector whilst excluding other owners of European businesses from oligarchs to foreign governments. We're delighted Mr Rasmussen has accepted the need for an impact assessment."

However, Mr Russell conceded that the private equity industry should be more transparent. Signalling a softening of the industry's stance on large buy-outs, he said:"We understand there are some businesses that are in the public interest, even once we own them there is a willingness to discuss a special process of disclosure in these cases."

Lord Myners argued the directive unfairly targeted and "discriminated" against the alternative investment industry. But Mr Rasmussen insisted that, although hedge funds and private equity firms were not the cause of the financial crisis, they contributed to it. "Hedge funds are characterised by the same factors that made banks systemic," he said, using leverage and short-selling as examples.

The EU directive includes proposals for radical new rules ranging from fund raising to capital requirements. It is particularly tough on non-European fund operators. It stipulates that only funds domiciled in Europe can be marketed in the EU.  [This is ‘protectionism at its worst -cs] An estimated 90pc of hedge funds are domiciled off-shore while the industry is also dominated by Amercian players.

Mr Rasmussen said the directive is designed to create a "level playing field" for Europe's investment management industry   

THE TIMES 12.9.09

Hedge fund and private equity leaders protest against EU clampdown

Miles Costello

Heavyweights from the hedge fund and private equity industries yesterday lined up to attack the architect of a controversial European investments directive, which they claim threatens their business and the competitiveness of the City of London.

Backed by their new cheerleader, Lord Myners, the City Minister, representatives from the two sectors accused Poul Rasmussen of unfairly singling them out for a regulatory clampdown.

Mr Rasmussen, president of the European Party of Socialists and the former Danish Prime Minister, was instrumental in drafting the alternative investment fund management directive, which was conceived by the European Commission to help to prevent a repeat of the banking crisis.

Critics of the proposal — which imposes onerous reporting and disclosure requirements on managers and makes it harder for non-EU funds to access European markets — say the rules were politically motivated and hastily drafted with little consultation.

“Hedge funds and private equity were not central to the financial crisis and should not be receiving the priority of EU regulation that they are,” said Lord Myners at an open debate that was hosted by the City of London Corporation yesterday.

Douglas Shaw, the head of alternatives at BlackRock, the US fund manager, said that restricting European markets to EU funds would harm competition. He said that he was not opposed to “effective regulation”, but added: “I worry that the growing compliance burden will prevent the BlackRocks of the future competing with us.”

Also present at the meeting was Stuart Wheeler, the founder of the spread-betting firm IG Index and former donor to the Conservative Party, who now supports the antiEuropean UK Independence Party.

David Campbell Bannerman, an MEP and deputy leader of UKIP, said that he would be voting against the directive and called on Mr Rasmussen to confirm that it was his ambition to “downsize” and “damage” the City of London.

An unrepentant Mr Rasmussen said that it was “too much” to argue that hedge funds and private equity were blameless, but added: “I’m not here to inspire your fear. I’m going for a strong position of competitiveness as my point of departure. You can’t obtain that true competitiveness without transparency and a level playing field for all players.”

However, he said that the European Parliament would agree to carry out an “impact assessment”, to look at areas, such as that covering UK investment trusts, where funds would be unfairly caught up in the directive’s net, although he said that there would be “no watering down” of the directive.