17 September 2009

Sally Dewar addresses FSA Asset Management Sector conference

Sally Dewar, managing director of Wholesale Markets at the Financial Services Authority (FSA), today set out how the EU Alternative Investment Fund Management Directive could be made more workable for the industry and why a risk-based and global approach to regulating fund management is needed.

Speaking at the FSA’s Asset Management Sector conference, Sally Dewar said that there is much in the Directive that the FSA can support and stated that "most of us can see value to the European and global capital markets, and the wider economy, in sensible and proportionate harmonisation of regulatory standards in the areas under discussion".

She added, however, that there remain four key areas that need to be addressed to make the Directive more effective for the funds it covers:
  • Correct identification of the weaknesses in the present regulatory arrangements and addressing them in a proportionate way
  • Differentiation between types of alternative investment fund management
  • Adoption of a risk-based approach – the scope and thresholds of the Directive need to strike the correct balance between imposing additional costs and enabling regulators to identify and mitigate systemic risks
  • The need to take a global approach that recognises the global nature of the sector and does not impose unjustifiable geographical restrictions on firms' business models that would significantly restrict investor choice

Full text of the speech

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