BRUSSELS The European Parliament on Thursday endorsed wide-ranging curbs on the trillion-dollar hedge fund industry, blamed in part for fanning the global financial crisis.
BRUSSELS — The European Parliament on Thursday endorsed wide-ranging curbs on the trillion-dollar hedge fund industry, blamed in part for fanning the global financial crisis.
Meeting in plenary session, the parliament adopted the legislation by a large majority, with 513 votes in favour, 92 against and three abstentions.
The just-adopted European Union rules for hedge funds and private equity are “a new step taken in the reform of the financial system,” said conservative French MEP and rapporteur Jean-Paul Gauzes.
They “will bring more light to the black hole of finance,” said Luxembourg Socialist MEP Robert Goebbels.
“We must now build on these foundations by introducing strong and intelligent regulation for all financial markets, products and actors,” the EU’s financial services commissioner Michel Barnier said.
The directive, to come into force in 2013, imposes strict registration, reporting and initial capital requirements on hedge funds which have been accused of encouraging ill-judged speculative investments at the heart of the global financial crisis.
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