Hedge Fund Regulation In The European Union

While hedge funds have been part and parcel of the global asset management landscape for well over fifty years, it is only relatively recently that they came to prominence as one of the fastest growing and most vigorous sub-sectors of the financial services industry. Despite their growing significance for global and European financial markets, hedge funds continue enjoying a sui generis regulatory status. The ongoing credit crisis and its lessons for the wisdom of unregulated or loosely regulated pockets of financial activity raise, with renewed urgency, the issue of deciding how long for the relative regulatory immunity of hedge funds is to be tolerated in the name of financial innovation. This well-thought-out book, the first of its kind in this particular field, examines the case for the European onshore hedge fund industry’s regulation, making concrete proposals for its normative future. Following a detailed account of the ‘established’ regulatory systems in Ireland and Luxembourg, as well as of the ‘emerging’ hedge fund jurisdictions in Italy, France, Spain and Germany, and of the regulatory treatment of hedge funds in the UK, this book examines to what extent the continuing exclusion of hedge funds from harmonized European regulation is defensible, whether their differences to traditional asset management products justify their distinct regulatory treatment and, ultimately, if their EU-wide regulation is possible and, if so, what form this should take. This book offers enormously valuable insights into all facets of the subject of the regulation of hedge funds, including: the legitimacy of the public policy interest in their activities; the conceptual underpinnings and systemic stability emphasis of a realistic hedge fund regulatory scheme; the main parameters of a workable onshore hedge fund regulatory framework; the role of investor protection and market integrity as part of a holistic hedge fund regulatory scheme; the possible use of the UCITS framework as a foundation for the EU-wide regulation of hedge funds; the MiFID’s impact on the regulatory future of the European hedge fund industry; existing cross-jurisdictional differences and similarities in the normative treatment of hedge funds within the EU; hitherto initiatives and recommendations of the Community institutions and bodies; and the need for more efficient co-operation and information-sharing arrangements amongst national supervisors for the monitoring of the cross-border risks inherent in the activities of hedge funds. As the first ever comprehensive account of the profile, main features and normative future of the contemporary global and European hedge fund markets – including a systematic inquiry into the conceptual underpinnings of hedge fund regulation and a detailed examination of the European hedge fund industry’s treatment under Community and domestic law – this book represents a major contribution to the literature on hedge funds and their regulation which, through its concrete proposals for the onshore industry’s regulation and its clear analysis of the conditions necessary for their implementation, should be of extraordinary value to policymakers, supervisors and academics alike.

Hedge funds remain the most controversial vehicles of the alternative investment funds universe. Their opaque nature, alleged role in major crises around the world and perceived lack of investor protection have repeatedly led to calls for greater regulation. Yet despite its tremendous growth, the hedge fund industry is still shrouded in a veil of mystery largely due to the highly complex and dynamic trading strategies employed by hedge funds and the scarcity of information about them. For the first time in one comprehensive volume, this concise but thorough guide explains how hedge funds work, analyses risk, compares the European Union (EU) and United States (US) systems and proposes reforms to the European framework in order to improve its resilience. Focusing on the contribution of the hedge fund industry to systemic risk, the author elucidates the complex world of hedge funds and the legal issues linked to it. The analysis proceeds as follows: introduction to the world of hedge funds – definition, main characteristics, organizational structure, investment strategies, and benefits; deeply informed exploration of the dangers posed by hedge funds; documentation and examination of the major incidents connecting hedge funds and financial crises; rationales for regulation of hedge funds; comparison of relevant legislative developments in the US and EU; and proposals for strengthening the current EU supervisory and regulatory framework. Guiding legislation, such as the EU Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive and the US Dodd-Frank Act, is analysed, along with topical issues such as hedge fund activism. Because the direction that hedge fund regulation takes in the future has implications for the Eurozone and systemic risk in the wider financial system, this book will be of immeasurable value to professionals in both the legal and business communities. It will be welcomed by corporate lawyers, regulatory authorities, policymakers and academics in both business-related and finance-related disciplines.

In the ten years since its coming into force, the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD), with almost EUR 7 trillion assets under management in its remit, has become an important piece of European regulation complementing the Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities (UCITS) and the Markets in Financial Instruments (MiFI) frameworks. This third edition of the most comprehensive and in-depth analysis of the AIFMD and its related European investment fund legislation (including the European Venture Capital Fund Regulation, the European Social Entrepreneurship Fund Regulation, the European Long-Term Investment Fund Regulation and the European Money Market Fund Regulation among others) brings together fund industry experts, fund supervisors, consultants, lawyers and academics to discuss the content and system of the directive from every angle, including its relation not only to the UCITS and MiFI frameworks but also to pension funds, the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation, the Securitization Regulation and the Cross Border Funds Distribution Directive and Regulation, as well as related pieces of tax regulation at the European level. Further, the third edition emphasizes the function of such factors in the financial services value chain as the following: the AIFMD’s approach to robo-advisors; digital asset funds; infrastructure investments in the context of real estate and sustainable investments; risk management; transparency; and impact on alternative investment strategies. Five country reports, focusing on the European Union’s five most important financial centres for alternative investment funds, deal with the potential interactions among the AIFMD and the relevant laws and regulations of France, Germany, Luxembourg, Ireland and The Netherlands. This thoroughly updated edition elaborates on potential difficulties encountered when applying the directive and provides potential solutions to the problems it raises. The book is sure to be warmly welcomed by fund lawyers and consultants, investors and their counsels, fund managers, depositaries, asset managers and administrators, as well as regulators and academics in the field.

This practical new handbook outlines key trends in the global hedge fund industry, including latest structuring and governance models, as well as operational, litigation, enforcement and key regulatory initiatives in the European Union and United States. The book also features an in-depth analysis of the law and regulation of hedge funds in a number of leading jurisdictions. Each country chapter follows a detailed template for ease of reference for the reader.

The book analyses the taxation of investment funds and their investors from the standpoint of domestic tax laws, tax treaties and EC law. It also provides a comprehensive understanding of the tax issues arising in the cross-border transactions of investment funds and private fund investors in the European Union. The viewpoints of the source state of income, residence state of the investment fund as well as the residence state of the investor are all considered. The book takes a comparative approach by covering five EU Member States (the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Luxembourg and Finland). On the basis of the examination at the Member State level, the present tax rules and practices are tested against the fundamental freedoms of the EC Treaty. The conclusion is that there are still various tax measures that are likely to be in conflict with EC law. The book also discusses possibilities of adopting targeted measures of positive integration at the level of the European Union with a view to enhancing the objective of the single investment fund market.

This book analyses elements of international finance, comparing the regulation of hedge funds in United States, Europe, the UK, and off-shore jurisdictions in the aftermath of the financial crisis. It critically compares the Dodd- Frank Act in US with the Alternative Investment Funds Managers Directive in Europe. Moreover, it goes further by analyzing the implementation of the AIFM Directive in seven jurisdictions in Europe famous for the incorporation of hedge funds: the United Kingdom, Italy, France, Ireland, Malta, Luxembourg, and Switzerland. The book also analyses the effect of Brexit on the legislation in the UK regarding the application of the directive and the distribution of financial products in Continental Europe, and will be of particular interest to researchers, academics, and students of international finance and financial regulation.

This report examines the proposed Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive which introduces an EU-wide approach to the regulation of Alternative Investment Fund Managers, including hedge fund and private equity fund managers. The Directive aims both to increase the stability of the financial system and to facilitate the single market in Alternative Investment Funds. The report argues that the Directive will seriously damage the EU and UK economies unless it is fully compatible with the global approach to the regulation of fund managers and the Government should withhold agreement on the Directive until these concerns are addressed.

In the wake of the recent global financial crisis regulators and supervisors became aware that the 'risk appetite' of hedge funds and private equity funds was to a significant extent shielded from public scrutiny, as it was only through banks' financing of these funds that public authorities could obtain a view on the role of these funds in the wider financial system. In order to disperse this lack of reliable and comprehensive data, measures were adopted both in the European Union - the Alternative Investment Management Funds Directive - and to a lesser extent in the United States to impose a risk-sensitive framework. Individual EU Member States and other countries followed suit. This book reprints reports delivered by representatives of fifteen countries at the Eighteenth International Congress of the International Academy of Comparative Law, held in Washington on the 29th of July 2010. The reports present a wealth of information on the different approaches and the specific rules that a variety of national legislators have adopted on the regulation of hedge funds and private equity funds. They greatly clarify the current understanding of such factors as the following: the nature of the systemic risk created by these funds; how activist investors challenge the incumbent management of well-established companies; effects of aggressive intervention in the business organization of a firm; how some funds achieve excess returns even during the crisis; ; advance information obtained through insider rings or other social networks; and safeguards that limit the investor's risk (e.g., allowing only "funds of funds"). With its comparative analysis of rules (and their degree of stringency) adopted by states on offering these products to the retail investor, this book is of great importance for legal practice in the areas of investor protection, financial services, and regulation of securities and banking. Although the present crisis has fundamentally challenged public authorities in every country, it is important to know what has been introduced or modified and which pre-existing measures have been retained as a result of new measures. The national reports reproduced in this book provide the clearest and fullest commentary available on this and other aspects of the 'new' global financial regulatory scheme.