21/08/2009 Author: Tony Griffiths

Aima calls for EC assessment of Directive impact

The Alternative Investment Management Association (Aima) has called on the European Commission to follow the example of the UK’s Financial Services Authority (FSA) and commission an impact assessment of the draft AIFM Directive.     
 
The FSA, the UK’s financial services regulator, has hired global consultancy firm CRA International to conduct a study into the Directive’s likely repercussions for British investors, firms and markets.
 
Aima chief executive Andrew Baker, who welcomed the FSA’s move in a statement today, said he now hoped that the European Commission will now follow suit at a pan-EU level. “It would be extraordinary if there were no proper assessment at a European level of the impact of a directive that could have extremely wide-ranging consequences.”
 
CRA International’s report, which will take the form of a cost/benefit analysis, will also look at the Directive’s effect on small company financing and European competitiveness.
 
Earlier this month Aima research suggested that the Directive could cost EU’s pensions industry as much as €25bn in performance-related losses.