The European Commission's plans to regulate hedge funds and private equity for the first time threaten to become a central issue in the European parliamentary election campaign

The European Commission yesterday (29 April) proposed a mild set of rules for hedge funds and private equity firms, requiring mandatory registration and disclosure of their activities to regulators, while at the same time easing their access to European markets.

The European Commission yesterday (11 March) rejected criticism coming from Washington that plans to regulate hedge funds and private equity in Europe would cause a transatlantic rift by closing doors to US funds.

With pressure mounting over a European Commission proposal on hedge funds and private equity, French pro-regulation MEP Jean-Paul Gauzès has been nominated to steer the controversial draft through the European Parliament.

Luke Johnson, the pizza entrepreneur turned media executive, has launched a stinging attack on the European Commission's plan to regulate hedge funds and private equity

After the European Parliament approved tighter controls on hedge funds and private equity firms yesterday (17 May), the EU's finance ministers today gave their blessing to a very different proposal, leaving the European Commission with the job of forging a "dynamic compromise" by June.

After the European Parliament approved tighter controls on hedge funds and private equity firms yesterday (17 May), the ball now passes to the court of the EU's finance ministers, who find themselves in a very different position. Wedged between the two, the European Commission says it wants a "dynamic compromise" by June.

The alternative funds industry has reacted with anger at the Commission’s proposal for stricter regulations of hedge funds and private equity groups. The Commission’s proposal, tabled yesterday, would require alternative fund managers, rather than funds themselves, to register and seek government authorisation for the first time.

European lawmakers vote overwhelmingly in favour of new rules to regulate hedge funds and private equity funds on a pan-European basis for the first time

European Commission proposals to regulate alternative investment funds discriminate against private equity and favour direct competitors like sovereign wealth funds or maverick businessmen, Javier Echarri, secretary-general of the European Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (EVCA), told EurActiv in an interview.