IMA slams new directive
THE head of the UK’s Investment Management Association (IMA) yesterday blasted the UK government as “oblivious” when drafting the newly-passed Alternative Investment Fund Managers (AIFMD) directive.
Richard Saunders, IMA chief executive, told a Brussels conference the bill is “a case study of how not to do legislation” as “political horse-trading” took over the drafting process.
EU legislators pursued a “blatantly protectionist” agenda, while the UK’s negotiations were “a failure of British foreign policy,” Saunders said.
Intervention by France, Germany and the Barroso presidency substantially altered the draft AIFMD while the UK failed to influence it, he argued.
The UK played “by the rules of cricket, while everybody else was playing by the rules of ice hockey,” he said. He described the final directive as “a missed opportunity” that “will impose extra costs on the industry.”