UK hedge funds warn on EU rules

Date: Thursday, June 4, 2009
Author: Gwen Robinson, FTalphaville

Some of Britain’s biggest hedge funds have warned the UK Treasury they will have to leave the country unless a draft European directive is radically altered. Some have already begun contingency preparations to move to Switzerland or New York if the rules – described by one manager as a “French plot against London” – are not rewritten. The draft directive was modified at the last minute to require the European Commission to set a limit on borrowing. Private equity firms are also fighting the rules.