AIMA on Hedge Fund Regulation

Date: Monday, January 31, 2011
Author: Hedgeco.net, Alex Akesson

The global hedge fund industry is not ‘un-regulated’ or lightly-regulated. Hedge fund managers are already rigorously regulated in all the main jurisdictions in which they operate, and significant new regulation is being introduced internationally.

That’s according to the Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA), the global hedge fund association, which has supported G20 regulatory initiatives for hedge funds. G20 leaders agreed in 2009 that all hedge fund managers should be registered by their national regulators, and that managers should report systemically relevant data to those regulators in the interests of financial stability.

“All the major jurisdictions where hedge fund managers operate – whether in North America, Europe or Asia-Pacific – have rigorous regulation of the industry. And this already rigorous regulation is being increased by new legislation introduced since the crisis – for example the Dodd-Frank Act in the United States, and the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive in the European Union,” said Andrew Baker, CEO, AIMA.

“Some recent references to the ‘un-regulated’ financial sector internationally have been interpreted as referring to hedge funds. Given that it would be completely mistaken to call the global hedge fund industry ‘un-regulated’, this interpretation is presumably inaccurate.”

“It’s also worth noting that because the G20 has declared that no financial market, participant or instrument should go un-regulated and is delivering on this promise, no major financial services sector globally can remain un-regulated.