As a result of the planned new private funds regulations in the form of the proposed EU Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (the AIFM Directive), the alternative investment fund industry in Europe is confronting arguably its greatest challenge since its inception in seeking access to European capital. Having been heaped with undue culpability for the recent global economic crisis the sector is now facing greater calls for accountability and regulation. As a result, as well as facing significant business challenges, the industry now faces proposed regulatory reforms in the EU that aim to ensure the industry does not pose a systemic risk to global financial markets. The proposed reforms look set to increase the regulatory burden on fund managers and, in particular, make access to the highly attractive investor markets in Europe more difficult for non-EU fund managers.
First published by the European Commission in April 2009, the proposed AIFM...