WSJ – In a letter dated March 1, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner called out the European Union’s proposed “alternative investment fund” regulations as protectionism in drag. He’s right to worry.
The proposal, which European finance ministers will discuss tomorrow in Brussels, would effectively bar hedge funds and private-equity funds from marketing themselves throughout the EU unless those funds are managed inside the bloc. The list of new requirements on location, leverage and disclosure for outside players is supposed to protect EU investors from shady offshore operators.
