Key reform of EU funds market frozen

The European Commission has postponed a review of its rules on European investment funds, originally forecast for the end of April. No clear new deadlines have been set.

“The April target is now very unlikely. The outcome is very open,” said EU Internal Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy’s spokesperson on 13 April. The Commissioner “has not made up his mind”, he added, saying that McCreevy would now consult advisory bodies before taking any further action.

According to the Commission’s internal medium-term plan, a decision on the revision of the Directive that regulates so-called UCITS funds (undertakings for collective investment in transferable securities) was due to be taken on 30 April, following a long debate started in 2006. UCITS funds include all the direct investments made by households, such as equity funds, bond funds, balanced funds and money market funds.

One of the hottest topics on the agenda was the planned introduction of a “European financial passport” for company managers, aimed at allowing them to sell funds across the EU regardless of their country of establishment.

This measure is supported by the majority of EU countries, which consider it a means of encouraging investment, but it is countered by member states like Luxembourg and Ireland, which currently host a large number of funds and fear the loss of a valuable source of revenue (see EURACTIV 11/03/08).

Also at stake are measures to allow for more efficient pooling and merging of funds to strengthen the European industry, the value of which is currently estimated to be more than €7,500 billion, according to 2007 figures released by EFAMA, the European Fund and Asset Management Association.

Read more with Euractiv

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