HF Transparency on G7 Agenda

Date: Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Author: Hedge Fund Daily

The Group of Seven industrialized nations will discuss hedge fund transparency when they meet next month in Washington, D.C., a German Finance Ministry spokesman said Friday. Speaking at a news conference, Torsten Albig said: “There will be an intensive discussion on this subject in the entire G7 circle.” He noted, however, that Germany—which currently holds the G7 presidency—would not make a concrete proposal on the matter, Reuters reported. The spokesman said he expects the subject of hedge fund transparency to remain on the G7 agenda next year when Japan takes over the presidency from Germany. Germany has pushed this year for the adoption of a voluntary code of conduct by hedge funds, and Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck has said recent turmoil in the financial markets has only served to underline the importance of this. Some G7 countries like the U.K. and the U.S. have been measured in their reception of the German initiative, which has yet to produce any concrete results. Albig said Germany believes consensus on the need to make progress on transparency had increased both within the G7 and industry. “We’re  confident that we will see results on this in the medium term,” he added.