scholarly journals The European Union, Financial Crises and the Regulation of Hedge Funds: A Policy Cul-de-Sac or Policy Window?

2008 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 167-178
Author(s):  
David John Lutton

A series of financial crises involving hedge funds has created a general perception that action needs to be taken. A number of key member states and political actors favour tighter regulation. Traditional bureaucratic theory suggests that the European Commission would seek to maximise this ‘policy window’, and yet there remains no single unified European Union (EU) regulatory framework specifically targeting hedge funds. The nature of the regulatory regime, which has generally demanded a ‘light touch’ approach, means there are strict limits the EU’s ability to act. From an EU perspective, hedge fund regulation appears to be a policy cul-de-sac. However, the relationship between hedge funds and financial crisis is complex and less straightforward than is often portrayed. Hedge fund regulation cannot, however, be considered in isolation but should be viewed in the context of a wider programme to integrate European financial services markets. Viewed from this perspective, EU regulation is in fact changing the landscape of the hedge fund industry through a process of negative integration.

2012 ◽  
Vol 15 (supp02) ◽  
pp. 1250037
Author(s):  
WILLI SEMMLER ◽  
RAPHAELE CHAPPE

This paper presents a stochastic dynamic model that can be used to describe situations in asset management where hedge funds may inadvertently find themselves running a Ponzi financing scheme. Greater transparency is necessary to reduce such opportunities, such as audited financials, and disclosure of valuation methodologies. In that respect, new regulatory frameworks enacted by the Obama administration and the European Union are welcome developments.


2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 463-480 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giorgio Tosetti Dardanelli

This paper deals with the debate on the methods to regulate hedge funds, with a particular focus on direct or indirect regulation. After having briefly examined the pros and the cons of directly regulating these investment schemes, it comes to the conclusion (largely shared by most scholars) that hedge funds should not be directly regulated, while regulation should concern their management companies and, most of all, their counterparts (lenders in the first place) with a view to managing systemic risk. In addition, regulation should also set precise thresholds for access which should aim at protecting unsophisticated investors from hazardous moves, without, however, falling into the trap of regulating hedge fund themselves.The attention is then turned to the European Union and to its Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD). An analysis is conducted on some of the most significant approaches to hedge fund regulation which have fuelled (and are partly still fuelling) the debate within EU institutions in its struggle to provide Member States with a valid response to the financial crisis, and on some key provisions of the first level AIFMD. In this light the author concludes that, despite the declared intent to regulated fund managers, the directive often seems to regulate hedge fund themselves. This does not seem to be in line with the thoughts of most scholars and market operators on hedge fund regulation and also looks at odds with other pieces of EU legislation (in particular with the so-called “Newcits”).


Author(s):  
Penn Bob ◽  
Forzani Alex ◽  
Allen & Overy LLP

This chapter summarizes and discusses the UK regulatory framework for recognized investment exchanges (RIEs) and recognized clearing houses (RCHs) under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA). It considers the framework in light of the current and forthcoming European legislation. It also examines the applicability of the framework to RIEs and RCHs in the context of the recast Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II (MiFID II), European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR) and the UK's departure from the European Union (Brexit). This chapter outlines the central role of exchanges and clearing houses in the operation of financial markets. It explains that the exchanges offer marketplaces for the trading of financial instruments, provide market data which facilitates trading, and establish standards for the offering of securities, while clearing houses manage the performance of financial contracts between the point of execution and final settlement and mitigating the risk and consequences of default.


2020 ◽  
pp. 69-102
Author(s):  
Steven Fielding ◽  
Bill Schwarz ◽  
Richard Toye

This chapter focuses on the way in which political actors of different stripes have used the idea of Churchill as a means of self-validation. It explores how, in the decades after his death, Churchill became a key point of reference in Anglo-American relations, a theme which intensified after the terrorist attacks of 9/11. The chapter also examines how Churchill has been used by those on both sides of the long-running debate about British membership of the European Union. Although Remainers invoked the memory of the 1946 ‘United States of Europe’ speech, they struggled to sell Churchill as a complex figure who was prepared to make concessions on British sovereignty in the interests of future peace. The ingrained, bulldog image remained hegemonic—even though Churchill’s popular reputation had shifted in subtle but significant ways since the end of the Second World War.


EU Law ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 832-888
Author(s):  
Paul Craig ◽  
Gráinne de Búrca

All books in this flagship series contain carefully selected substantial extracts from key cases, legislation, and academic debate, providing students with a stand-alone resource. The Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) has two separate chapters on self-employed persons who move on a permanent or temporary basis between Member States: the chapters on freedom of establishment and freedom to provide services. The central principles governing freedom of establishment and the free movement of services are laid down in the TFEU and have been developed through case law. Important developments have also been brought about through secondary legislation in sectors such as insurance, broadcasting, financial services, electronic commerce, telecommunications, and other ‘services of general economic interest’. This chapter focuses on the broad constitutional principles applicable to every sector. The UK version contains a further section analysing issues concerning freedom of establishment and the provision of services between the EU and the UK post-Brexit.


2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 29-43
Author(s):  
Deimantas Jastramskis

This paper focuses on the making of communications policy in Lithuania, specifically regarding net neutrality. The study employs a multiple stream model to analyze the conditions of the political process and the activity of political actors. The paper claims that the Lithuanian communications policy has become essentially denationalized since the country’s accession to the European Union. The issue of net neutrality policy has been framed in the context of EU policy, while the national agenda of net neutrality policy lost its significance. The denationalization of the net neutrality policy-making was harmonized with the agencification of policy formulation stage.


Author(s):  
Henry E. Hale ◽  
Robert Orttung

The concluding chapter by Henry Hale and Robert Orttung identifies several common threads running through the chapters in the volume. Among these are the importance of taking into account that formal institutions will not work the same way they do in Western countries thanks to local informal practices, the difference between deeply embedded obstacles to reform and those that are more contingent, the need to focus on long-term solutions, how realistic various reform proposals are in light of the incentives of political actors who have the power to enact them, and the notion that many of the reforms discussed in the volume can reinforce each other. Ultimately, perhaps the single most important driver for change in Ukraine is the European Union.


2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Woods Bowman

The thesis of this paper is that transactions costs related to formation of nonprofit corporations are restraining the size of the nonprofit sector in Europe. An unfettered ability to incorporate is an important determinant of nonprofit formation. The point is illustrated with historical data from the United States. Given that an increasing number of nonprofits have transnational goals, the lack of a common regulatory regime for nonprofits in Europe raises transactions costs and stifles development of the nonprofit sector—just as the lack of a common regulatory regime for commerce prior to founding of the European Union had retarded business activity.


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