Newsletter July/August 2011: EU watchdog consults on hedge fund rules

PARIS – The European Securities Markets Authority (ESMA), the new pan-EU financial markets watchdog, is re-opening one of the most controversial topics of the last few years – regulation of hedge funds, private equity funds and other alternative types of investment vehicles. Political agreement on the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) was finally reached last November after 18 months of sometimes bitter wrangling between EU finance ministries, as well as between lawmakers and governments, often amidst intense lobbying by the financial services industry.